CoinStruck

Two older silver bars. The first is an “India 5 Tolas” circa 1960s weighting 58.3 grams. Manufactured by Chimanlal & Co. The next is a 1oz silver bar for the 2004 silver jubilee of HBZ Finance Ltd. I guess they gave this out to customers but am not sure. I bought this one on eBay.

Package arrived on my doorstep this week with a lot of goodies. Ten pieces of 1oz silver bars. A very nice 1914 London half sovereign. PAMP 1oz silver snake bar. They minted 3,000 of these. 1943 Ecuador 🇪🇨 5 Sucres, 1 million mintage.

Couple of arrivals from an auction this week. First is a tiny 13mm diameter, 1.672 gram 90% gold 1849 USA 🇺🇸 $1 gold coin. This was the first year of issue and the coin is in great condition. Philadelphia mintage of 688,567 coins. Then this 1975 non-circulating 10 Mark 62.5% silver coin from the German Democratic Republic commemorating the 💯 anniversary of the birth of Albert Schweitzer. Graded MS66 by PCGS with a mintage of 101,100 coins.

The larger size Perth Mint 125th anniversary sovereigns and their sets were released this morning. Maximum Mintage by coin below Quarter Sovereign- 3,275 available as a single coin and in the three and five coin sets Half sovereign- 275 only available in the three and five coin sets. A pity as I would have bought one. Sovereign- 2,325 coins was available from a few weeks ago and now in the three coin and five coin sets. They have also released a two coin set with the first 1899 P mint mark sovereign. Double sovereign- 375 available as a single coin for A$2,589 and in the five coin set Five pound sovereign- 125 coins and only available in the five coin set. Quick calculation shows the Perth Mint is charging a premium on the proofs over gold price of about 34.4%.

Next Tuesday the Perth Mint is releasing the quarter, half £2 and £5 versions of the coin.

Hopefully the one I bought is a real one. ☝️

First the background story (amounts below are in Australian dollars). In 1965 the Australian Coin Review magazine (“ACR”) launched an international coin design competition for an unofficial Australian decimal crown coin. The competition was won by Andor Meszaros (the sponsor of the competition) whose designs for Australia’s official decimal coins introduced into circulation in 1966 had come in second to Stuart Devlin. The winning design is called the Swan Pattern Dollar (more commonly called the “Goose Dollar”) featuring a Swan and replicates the design Andor Meszaros created for his 20 cent decimal coin that never was. The obverse shows 100 cents surrounded by Wattle flower leaves. The design was submitted to the Royal Australian Mint who declined to produce it. In 1967 ACR had the winning design minted privately in London by John Pinches Medalists in three versions comprising:- 1) one oz gold, mintage of 10. Two of these have been lost; 2) 1oz silver proof; mintage of 750; and 3) 1oz silver uncirculated, mintage of 1,500. These were minted as “fantasy coins” and were not legal tender. Prices in Australian dollars at issue were $13.50 for the silver proofs and $10 for the silver UNC (3). Not sure about the gold issue price but it would have been in the low hundreds. They have become a key part of Australian numismatic history being an example of what could have been. Prices for the silver UNCs are now around +$2,000, silver proofs +$2,500 and higher for decently graded versions. Back in 2006 they could still be bought for under $300 but following some articles in the ACR at that time their prices skyrocketed. The best prices are of course achieved by PCGS graded versions in the PF65 and over range. The coins came in box’s linked with satin lining and many have developed hairlines and don’t grade very high. The gold versions hardly ever come to market so ballpark $25,000 to $40,000. The 2024 Restrike This year is the 60th anniversary of the ACR magazine and to celebrate this they have arranged for the Royal Australian Mint to restrike the coin dated 2024. The mintage levels will be the same as the 1967 versions. Pricing $195 silver UNC, $295 silver proof and $5,950 gold. There will also be an aluminum bronze version with a mintage of 10,000 priced at $49. Preorders started on June 1st with dispatch September 1st. Unfortunately I only heard the news about the restrike this week and the gold and silver proofs are sold out. I did manage to order two of the silver UNCs and told a friend who also purchased two - in fact the last two as these are now also sold out. I remember when the British Royal Mint issued the 200th anniversary of the modern sovereign special design there was a lot of interest in the original 1817 sovereign and prices have risen accordingly. So perhaps 🤔 the 1967 Swan Pattern silver dollar versions will show a rise in value fuelled by the interest in the 2024 restrike? Yesterday I found a 1967 silver proof (pictured below) which I have bought and will have conserved and graded. From the listing photos I can’t see any hairlines but there is a hazing on the coin which should come off in the conservation process. I will update when the grading result is known.

A friend of mine in Perth today bought one of the sovereigns.

Three coins to add to my world silver coin collection bought at auction. 1) a tiny 25 cents from Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka 🇱🇰), diameter of only 18mm. Mintage 400,000. 2) 1949 Canadian circulation silver dollar commemorating the accession of Newfoundland to Canada 🇨🇦. The ship is “The Matthew”. Mintage 672,000 with this coin graded 63 Proof Like by PCGS. 3) 1936 Portuguese 🇵🇹 half rupee minted for their colony of Goa in India 🇮🇳. Mintage 100,000 coins.

How much is the Unicorn coin? Also any chance you can post it to me in South Korea?

Can I take the Unicorn please?

Actually photos are care of Mrs Coin Struck.

What happens in Hong Kong stays in Hong Kong 🤔

Unfortunately he only accepted cash 💰!!

It was a good show. Very busy and I went back at 4pm thinking it would be dead but it was still full of people milling around and buying.

Yes being the weak man I am went back to the coin fair and spent the rest of my Hong Kong 🇭🇰 spending money on another 1/20th Panda 🐼. This one is 1992. View is from the top of Victoria Peak.

This morning also bought this lovey 1931 Perth mint sovereign from the Hong Kong 🇭🇰 International Numismatic fair.

Three 1/20th Chinese 🇨🇳 Pandas to add to my date run. Bought these today at the Hong Kong 🇭🇰 coin fair from a dealer visiting from California USA 🇺🇸. Dates are 1986, 2007 and 2015.

A few random cases of coins on offer at the fair. PCGS were very busy accepting grading submissions.

A few lots featuring in the Heritage Auction.

First day of the fair. Very busy with lots of buyers and plenty of cash changing hands.

The proof was released today. Mintage 2,000. Price A$1,295 so about £660.

That’s actually what I thought when I seen it. Would defiantly go for a bullion version if there was one. I think the £5 version will look spectacular. Not sure about mintage level as yet. Also secondary market for the modern Perth “sovereign style” coins is weak although they have gone the right way introducing a St George & Dragon rendition.

Just received today, a purchase from an Australian coin dealer. Had these shipped to me in South Korea 🇰🇷 and customs were convinced I was trying to avoid tax by undervaluing them. Anyway they are a 1871 Sydney shield sovereign (good- EF) an 1874 Bolivian Boliviano (EF).

Am heading down to the Hong Kong 🇭🇰 coin fair which starts Friday of this week. From what I can tell from the fairs website there are about 80 exhibitors. As expected many Asian dealers but also US, Australian dealers too. PCGS and NGC will be there and Heritage are running an auction. I will add a few photos of the fair (will visit it on Friday) and hopefully 🤞 will pick up a few nice coins.