I often get asked what are good buys in Australian coins. My honest view is that the best buy is the coin you are happy with. Now this does not give away much but the fact is it is true no matter what the type of coin or the budget you are operating in or the purpose of the purchase.

The three statements I mention above are the first three questions I ask – What is the purpose of the purchase (investment or enjoyment)? – What is your budget? – What type of coin are you after?

Essentially there are five distinct areas (other people will argue differently) in the Australian coin series. They are modern circulation coinage, modern non circulating legal tender, pre-decimals, imperial issues (sovereigns and half sovereigns) and everything else (which includes proclamation coins, holey dollar and dumps, Adelaide pounds etc).

In this article I intend to leave the “everything else” category alone as it is an expansive area that can be very expensive. It is also an area that I have not much expertise in as it has always been beyond my area of interest because of the cost on the big ticket items.

Now the enjoyment versus investment question is an important one. This has a big bearing on what you should buy. If you are buying for enjoyment then my advice is then buy what appeals to you and is within your budget. Try to stick to a theme, era or type of coin else you will overspend, often leaving you with items outside your real interest and that will have a lesser resale value than your original purchase price. Many collectors I know of buy, for example, only dollar coins. Others I know of only collect proof sets. At the end of the day if you are an enjoyment collect, then collect what you enjoy.

The next question is budget. If you have a large amount of money my advice is buy good quality pre-decimals and imperial coinage. This would include 1930 pennies of any grade, high grade sovereigns and half sovereigns, high grade early pre-decimals, especially florins, 1923 halfpennies and proof pre-decimals.

If you are on a budget then my advice is buy the best you can afford on any coin. I will however expand a later in this article few area that are worth looking at.

The last question is area of interest. Some collectors prefer pre-decimals, other decimal coinage and others imperial coinage. The good thing about Australian coinage is there is enough variety for all budget levels in each of the 5 categories of Australian coinage to satisfy all budgets.

From here on I will concentrate on investment items for collectors with spending capacity of under $150.

In general, the decimal circulation coin series has little investment value. Near all coins are available for under the $50 mark with most under $20 in uncirculated condition. Some value can be found in early proof sets. Later proof set issues also have some value. The best value circulation coins by far are however the $1 mint marked series. These are very popular and the smaller mintage coins have shown significant growth. If a reasonable amount was speculated on some of these issues, some money would be made. The other issue worthy of looking at is the wedding set. These sets a beautifully presented and since first appear have had low mintages. This means early sets are sure to rise in value as popularity in future sets increases.

Non circulating legal tender coins are, in general, the poorest investment items except for a few exceptions. The $1 kangaroo series has made steady growth, but they will not make you rich. This years Ghan coin is one recent issue that maybe worth speculating on. In general, issues of below 10000 are worth looking but there is probably better value in other areas.

Sovereigns and half sovereigns are an interesting part of Australian numismatics and well worth a look. A number of lower grade examples can be bought for under the $150 mark. Given that many lower grade coins are only of bullion value, with increasing gold prices recently you really can not go backwards. Imperial gold coinage however is showing more interest and values are steadily increasing. Higher grade examples may go over the $150 this article is intended on representing but with sovereigns and half sovereigns the key is to buy the best you can afford.

In my opinion, the pre-decimal series probably shows the best area of growth. In a lot of cases this is because many pre-decimal coins are under valued and the market is starting to realise this. There is also the added advantage that there are many varieties in this era of Australian coinage that many hours can be spent researching and studying just 1 coin the a pre-decimal series.

Out of the halfpenny series the standout coin has to be the 1915H. I have noticed a considerable rise in low grade examples over the last 12 months. This coin is hard to come by and is often the coin that prohibits the making of a standard halfpenny set. Many dealers have now sell this coin for over the $30 mark in low grade where as 12 months ago it was easily obtained for $15. Another coin that has made some gains is the 1939 type 2 (roo) coin. This is another that often stops the making of a halfpenny set. I also feel the 1924, 1930, 1931, 1942 and 1944 are under valued as they have mintages of around that of the 1939 roo coin. These coins can be picked up for under $5 and are worth hoarding in reasonable quantities, particularly the earlier dated coins.

The penny series probably has 2 standouts. The first is the 1925 penny. There seems to be an abundance of these in the market but they always go at a decent price. Low grade examples go for the $130 mark. The 1946 penny in low grade sells for the $60 mark and has increased in value over the last few years. Both these coins are sort over by dealers as they always have an abundance of buyers. The other coin in the penny series that is worth hoarding is the 1931 penny. This is for two reasons. The first is that there is a relatively low mintage compared to others in the series. The second is because the 1931 penny has a dropped “1” variety that has taken off in price. Over the last 2 years I have seen the price for the 1931 coin rise from $2.50 a coin up to as high as $5. The dropped “1” variety often fetches $10 in low grade.

The silver series of coins always show some value. Issues in any denomination prior to 1916 are always good to speculate on. This is because many have been taken out of the market for melting due to their high silver content. Although I do like most early silver coinage in reasonable grades as investment coins, florins for me show the best return as they are probably the most sort after series. Because of their size they show contact marking more than other silver coins so it is harder to find better examples than in other silver series meaning higher grades can be hard to come by. One point to make is that I believe that except for some exceptions that early silver coinage in better than average grade with probably perform better than like coins in the penny and halfpenny series.

Now for one final word. The information above is my personal opinion on what the market has shown me over the last few years. I may be wrong on what the market does. When making investment decisions I would suggest studying the market. An easy way of doing this is to look at online auctions over a reasonable period of time. Also speak to experts in the market like other investors and dealers. Finally, the coin game boils down to a fair amount of speculation. As such only invest what you can afford to invest and buy the best you can afford.

I hope this article helps you!!!

It is that time of the year where the two mints around the country pack away the 2004 dies and bring out the nice new 2005 dies. For me, as a collector, I find this practice ridiculous as I prefer a coin with a date of 2005 to be minted in 2005. As a coin retailer, the fact that they appear on the market a month or two before Christmas makes good marketing sense.

The Perth Mint has already released some of its 2005 issues. They have continued on the Lunar Series with the release of the “Rooster” coins. These have been issued in similar form as previous lunar series coins – examples include a silver series and a gold series of coins in both single and set form.

The Perth Mint also has on the table the annual Kookaburra Series and the Kangaroo series which has proved popular over recent years.

The RAM will announce later this month some of its’ standard issue coins for 2005. Like last year you can expect to see the annual proof and mints sets and baby proof and mint sets, wedding sets and a kangaroo or two.