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Australian penny
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1931 Australian Penny
Minted in Melbourne, Australia.
Four obverse / reverse die combinations were used during 1931 when making Australian pennies: The 'Indian obverse', the 'London obverse', the '177 bead reverse', and the '174 bead reverse'. There is also a variation with dates, specifically some coins have the last '1' in the date lower than the other numbers, commonly known as a 'dropped 1' variety.
The London obverse, (heads), variation has 177 outer rim denticals, while the Indian obverse variation has 178 outer rim denticals.
Both obverses feature the image of Australia's, (England's), Monarch at the time, King George V facing to the left, with the legend reading the Latin "GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT: OMN: REX F.D. IND: IMP:"
Common to all 1931 reverses, (tails), are the words "ONE PENNY" in the center, scrolls above and below wording, all surrounded by a ring of inner denticals. The 1931 penny has no mint mark.
Outer rim legend reads "COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA", with the date at the bottom, known as the 'COA' reverse.
The 'normal 1' has the last '1' in the date lining up with the other numbers, while the 'dropped 1' has the last '1' in the date significantly lower than the other numbers.
The easiest way to tell which obverse you have is to look at alignment of the final stroke of the 'N' in 'OMN', and the ':' after IMP, relative to the outer rim beads.
Indian obverse: Last stroke of 'N' in 'OMN' lines up with outer rim dentical, ':' after 'IMP' lines up in-between outer rim denticals.
London obverse: Last stroke of 'N' in 'OMN' lines up in-between outer rim denticals, ':' after 'IMP' lines up with outer rim dentical.
To determine which reverse you have, you need to look at the letters 'ALIA' in 'AUSTRALIA', and draw an imaginary line from the top of each letter to the outer rim. You will notice that each letter either lines up with the outer rim dentical, or lines up in between the rim dentical.
174 rim denticals: 'ALIA': 'AL' both line up with rim denticals, 'IA' both line up in-between rim denticals
177 rim denticals: 'ALIA': 'A IA' all line up with rim denticals, 'L' lines up in between rim denticals
There are 5 recognised primary varieties:
'London obverse, normal 1, 177 dentical reverse'
'London obverse, normal 1, 174 dentical reverse'
'London obverse, dropped 1, 174 dentical reverse'
'Indian obverse, normal 1, 177 dentical reverse'
'Indian obverse, dropped 1, 174 dentical reverse'
Edge | Plain |
Weight | 9.45 grams |
Diameter | 30.8 mm |
Composition | 97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin |
Mintage | approx. 494,000 (includes varieties) |
Scarcity | depends on variety |
The estimated values above are based on a combination of published guides, recent sales, projected values, and a variety of other sources.
They represent retail values and are provided as a guide only.
No allowance has been made for detractors, which will impact negatively on value.
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1931 Australian penny
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