This article is one that I have been meaning to write for a while as it is one the captures the imagination of many numismatist. It follows a similar line to the 1930 penny and 1923 halfpenny in that it is possible for the average Australian citizen to own a very valuable coin for the poultry price of a dollar.

For whatever reason, the 1930 penny escaped the gates of the mint to find itself into general circulation. The rarity of this coin has meant that its market value today is well over the $20000 mark for average circulation examples. The 1923 halfpenny, although not as famous as its big brother, is also a rare beastie. Today average circulation examples fetch over the $1500 mark. The special thing about these two coins that captured my imagination as a kid was that during the days of predecimal circulation coinage, a kid like me could find one of these coins in there pocket money and have something very valuable.

The 2000 $1 mule has the same appeal. If you are lucky enough, for the price of $1 a kid could find a very valuable coin in their pocket money!!!!

So what is this mule???? The 2000 circulation issue $1 coin was minted on a normal $1 blank. It was stamped on the reverse with a standard $1 reverse die. The obverse however was stamped with a 10 cent die. The result of this is that the Queens head is smaller than that which appears on a normal $1 coin. There is also a noticeable double rim on the obverse of the coin. Perfect examples will show the double rim around the total perimeter of the obverse of the coin. There have been three varieties found thus far.  They are 1) Perfectly centred 2) Perfectly centred/tilted die (this looks as if it’s off centre but under magnification the place where the rim would be can be seen) 3) Off centre.

How did it happen???? Since the first mule was found, many collectors wrote to the mint asking about this unusual coin. It took over two years for the mint to explain the error. The official explanation is that during staff shortages in 2000, less experienced staff working at the mint failed to change the obverse die in one of the coin presses. As a result of this an unknown quantity of coins were minted with this wrong die. Once the mistake was discovered, production stopped. The mule coins were sorted out and destroyed…or so it was thought. Somehow, some coins escaped the sorting and quality control checks. Once the problem was discovered it was too late to recall the coins, which had already passed the point of no return.

So how many escaped??? This is the million dollar question. The mint claims it does not know. I find this difficult to believe. At worst I think it plausible that they would know a very rough ball park figure. One thing for sure is that unless the mint offers some help any estimates would only be guesses unless a detailed study is done by a dedicated collector.

One thing that is worth a mention is that 2000 $1 coins appear to be scarce in circulation. The most probable reason for this could be because not all the 2000 $1 coins minted have been released by the reserve bank. It also appears that more 2000 $1 coins have appeared in Western Australia and Queensland. Obviously, more mules have surfaced in these two states. The hit rate of mule finds in these areas could be two fold. The first is that there are more people dedicated to searching in these states. I know for a fact there is a very dedicated searcher in WA. The second reason could be because batches of coins containing the mules may have been released in these states and not others. Because of this batch theory it is possible that all the batches of coins containing mules could be out there. It is also possible that batches of coins containing mule are yet to come. This theory reforces the fact that determining the number out there would be very difficult.

What is one worth??? Like all coin sales the amount a seller will get will depend on three things – Grade, rarity and demand. The grade part of an example is easily determined by looking at the coin. The rarity part can not be determined at this stage as at best we only have some guesses at how many there might be. We do not know either how many have been found as a lot of collectors do not make public what their collection comprises of. It can be said with some degree of certainty that less than a few hundred have been found. Then there is demand. With the increased awareness of this coin through articles in the media and Coin and Banknote Magazine (CAB) and the fact that only low numbers have surfaced, demand for this coin is fairly high.

As reported by Ian McConnelly in the September issue of CAB, sale prices have increased steadily over the last 18 months. The first sale reported by Ian was in Feb 2003 of a F+ example that fetched $325 on ebay. Sales of average circulation examples (around the VF grade) peaked at the $1500 mark in July this year on ebay. Prices on ebay have levelled out at just under the $1000 mark. A recent Nobles Auction saw 2 example up for sale. One did not meet the reserve of $1250 and the other went for $900.

The possible reason for the decline of sale price could be three fold. The first is that a number of examples have appeared on ebay lately, possibly “flooding” the market. The second reason could be that many of the mules listed on ebay have been listed by non coin sellers with little or no feedback ratings. This scares buyers off. The 3rd reason is that because many people in the market for a mule are searching large quantities of change in the hope of finding their very own. One thing for sure is that as this rarity is a relatively new find, the price will increase as the number of mules found fall into the hands of serious collectors or investors that tend to keep rare coins for extended periods. The other thing is that the longer these coins remain “unfound,” the grade of the coins will decrease (due to being circulated) making high grade examples sell for a premium.

I have mentioned a few times in this article about people searching for mules. What are people actually doing. Through the Australian Coins, Tokens and Banknotes Forum there have been a few choice stories. There of cause will be the story of the collector that spent a “funny” looking coin only to find out later its true worth. There have also been stories of collectors who have gone to the local dish lickers to buy coins from the change booth. There are also stories of collectors that have spent a weekend at the casino searching through change.

Ken Skinner probably has done the most work in trying to gauge the number of mules out there. Ken is the founder of the Australian Coins, Tokens and Banknotes Forum and has set up a registry where some mule finds have been documented and images stored. Ken would like to hear from anyone that has a mule in their collection for the purpose of documenting this rarity. Ken can be contacted at secretsquirrel@aussiecoins.net and his registry can be found at http://www.conceptual.net.au/~squirrel/forumscans/1d10c00mules/1d10c00mule.html .

In years to come the 2000 $1 mule could become like the 1930 penny and be one of the gems of a collection. Time will tell if it reaches the lofty prices of the 1930 penny, but one thing is for sure, at the moment, if you are lucky enough, you could own one for a dollar!!!!

Before I finish this article I would like to thank Ken Skinner for the information he has provided, the suggestions he has made and for providing the images for this article.

References

Australian Coins, Tokens and Banknotes Forum http://www.aussiecoins.net/forum/

Australian Coin & Cab Note Magazine, September 2004

In November the RAM released the 2005 coin sets. The sets commemorate the 60th anniversary since the end of the second world war. It depicts images from the war including 'peace', 'remembrance' and 'coming home'.

The $1 coin depicts the 'dancing man', Ern Hill, on Elizabeth St Sydney, taken in 1945. The 50 cent piece captures images inspired from El Alamein in 1942. The 20cent features the powerful image of 'coming home' to the family. Although I am a fan of standard coinage, this years commemorative coins are some of the best the mint has produced. The only fault I can find with these coins is that they do have large blank fields, particularly the 50c piece. These fields will be subject to marking meaning finding ChUnc coins from circulation will be difficult. For the lover of commemoratives, this years sets mean there is more "must haves" to collect.

The standard proof and mint sets are attractively packaged and presented. In my opinion these sets are better than last years with the theme magnificently highlighted. The baby proof and uncirculated sets follow the path of last years design. The wedding set, although presented in the same manner as previous years, now has a gloss cardboard outer box. This detracts slightly from the sets presentation. This however is offset by the fact the box is sturdier and less prone to marking.

The 2005 coins sets are excellent value for money. The popularity of recent issues has shown good increases in value from issue price of these sets. In my opinion the best value is the wedding set. Because all these sets are minted to demand,  low numbers of the wedding set have been minted in the past when compared with other coin issues. If fact less than 5000 sets have been made for each year since the wedding sets were introduced in in 2002. I envisage similar numbers will be made this year. As the popularity of wedding sets increase, so will the secondary market value.