Torrent of Coronation Tributes

Portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II by Nicky Philipps

The Royal Australian Mint’s announcement on Monday the 17th of June that it is releasing the second ever full-colour $2 commemorative into circulation is just the latest in a string of high-profile tributes for and commemorations of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th Coronation anniversary. One such commemoration from the UK’s Royal Mail that slipped under the radar somewhat is the commissioning of a unique portrait of the Queen for exclusive use on the Royal Mail’s stamps.

GB 2013 £5 Coronation PNC

Pictured above in the official GB 2013 £5 Coronation PNC, this portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II by Nicky Philipps is only available on select Royal Mint products. The Royal Mail has gifted the original painting to the Royal Collection, and the PNC pictured above is available from Downies here.

Featured Coin Producer: Coin Invest Trust, Innovative Numismatic Developer

Modern collecting is often marked by a fervent desire for collectors to acquire the new and innovative. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but these unique modern issues are highly sought after – as long as they are also high quality. For many years now, Downies has partnered with, and been sole official Australian distributor for, one of the most innovative coin producers in the world – Coin Invest Trust (CIT).

2013 500 Togrog Mongolian Nature – Crying Wolf 1/2oz Silver BU – Click image for more information

Established in 1970, CIT is a European firm that has been producing coins since 1982. Over the years CIT have won a number of high-profile awards for their ground-breaking releases, including the Coin Of The Year award for their ‘Gulo Gulo’ Wolverine coin, part of the Wildlife Protection Silver Series. They are known for a range of ground-breaking numismatic issues, including the Pearl Silver Proof Series, the Tiffany Glass $10 Series, and the Meteorite Silver Proof series, to name just a few.

The original Tiffany Glass offer made way back in 2004!

As an indication of the popularity of some of their coins, the first of CITs Tiffany Glass $10 Series was sold by Downies for $139.95 in May, 2004. It is now selling at up to $4,000 on the open market! It’s no mere fluke, either, as each of the coins in that series (and many others) have sold out almost instantly each year since!

Andorra 2013 5 Diners Swallowtail Butterfly 3D Colour Silver Proof – click image for more information

A big part of what makes releases by CIT so globally popular is that not only are they extremely innovative (3D coins with Butterfly wings, anybody?), but they are also crafted to the highest standards. CIT don’t just create new coins – they craft innovative, high-quality collector pieces that push the boundaries of modern numismatics. Downies is happy to partner with them and share their story with our collectors.

Choice Change Challenge – Alex’s Admission…

This post was kindly contributed by Alex, who has been participating in the Choice Change Challenge.

I have an admission to make… the Choice Change Challenge – or “Collecting the Commemorative”, as I’ve come to call it – is not my first foray into coin collecting…

The Choice Change Challenge began with a discussion between a colleague and me as to how long it would take to collect the entire Australian circulating commemorative coin catalogue – using only the everyday change in our pockets. “Not THAT long” we both agreed at the time. As it turns out, aside from some of the more common coins, it is slim pickings out there in Australia’s change! In the last month, I’ve added only a 2001 NSW Federation 50c and 2011 Royal Wedding 20c to my collection. Is it true? Are there really sock drawers in nearly every home that contain those ‘interesting and different’ Australian coins?

But I digress. The above failure to substantially add to the Choice Change Challenge is NOT my real admission. The real truth here is that, after 11 years working in Numismatics, and 5 years travelling the world because of Numismatics, I’ve managed to put together a collection of circulating world commemorative coins that is (in my opinion) none too shabby. Perhaps the hobby has, unbeknownst to me until now, taken over!

Probably the most consciously collected part of my accumulation is the USA State Quarters Program. As many would know, the US Mint began issuing the first five coins in their State Quarters series in 1999. Each year subsequent to that, five states were honoured upon five circulating commemorative quarters. This program proved hugely popular with collectors and has continued on after 2008 with the Territories set in 2009 and now, the America the Beautiful range of National Parks quarters.

In terms of my collection, over the course of several trips, I’ve managed to put aside 35 of the 50 State Quarters Series thus far! That tally includes three of the initial five 1999 coins plus ALL of the five state quarters issued in the program’s second year, 2000! Now, to complete my series, I’ve only got 15 coins to find!

So, hopefully you will all wish me luck as I start preparing for the World’s Fair of Money in Chicago in August and, more importantly, cross your fingers along with me as I attempt to pull the last 15 State quarters out of my pocket while I am there!

Australia’s first banknote turns one hundred!

May the 1^st, 2013, marks exactly 100 years since the printing of Australia’s very first banknote – the 1913 Ten Shilling note.

Unveiled in 1913 as part of Australia’s first national banknote issue, and bearing Australia’s first banknote signature combination, Collins/Allen, this groundbreaking 100-year-old banknote issue is among the most historic, most significant of all Australian banknotes. Not only does this note bear Australia’s first signature combination, it was also the first note issued by a Commonwealth nation with a face value of less than £1 – beating Britain’s famous Bradbury Ten Shilling banknote by over a year!

The 1913 10/- Collins/Allen is known in contemporary numismatics by its extreme rarity. This rarity is largely attributable to the comparatively tiny number issued. The Australian population was less than five million in the pre-World War I era, and the print-run of Australia’s first Ten Shilling note was approximately 600,000 – an incredibly small number for a denomination that was destined to one day be issued in the tens if not hundreds of millions. Of that tiny print-run, the ravages of time has seen the number of existing examples estimated to be no more than 100 notes. Unsurprisingly, the 1913 10/- Collins/Allen is among Australia’s most desirable banknote issues – hotly pursued by passionate collectors and eagle-eyed investors alike.

It still surprises some that, 100 years after printed, a note of such mind-blowing rarity is occasionally seen on the open market, and is not the exclusive province of museums and history books. Tangible evidence of Australia’s very first national banknote issue – and, by definition, tangible evidence of a new era of numismatics in Australia – we have two examples of this excessively rare banknote available.

If you are interested in this mouth-watering opportunity to dine at the top table of Australian numismatics, visit Downies.com, or call our rarities expert David Jobson on (02) 9299 4131.

Choice Change Challenge March Update: The Fleets Meet!

It’s been a big month in the competition – and in Australian numismatics – since we last caught up with our courageous coin collecting contenders! A new Australian circulating commemorative has been announced; competition for the top spot on the leader board has been fiercely contested, and; the coin that started it all has been found a second time – read on to continue the thrilling adventure!

First things first, let’s have a look at the current tally:

Competitor	20c Series	50c Series	$1 Series	$2 Series	Total
Alex	3	12	14	1	30
George	4	14	14	1	33
Jezebel	5	11	15	0	31

Competition has been intense! During the month Jezebel held quite a strong lead, but at the time of writing had just been knocked out of the overall lead by George, though she is still leading in the 20c series and the $1 series. Across the field there are only 3 coins between first and third place – our competitors are neck and neck!

A highlight for this month is that Alex has found another 1988 50c First Fleet commemorative! You may remember that this coin was the catalyst for starting the entire Choice Change Challenge – and it catalogues for $25 in Uncirculated condition! It’s an exciting find and big news for Alex.

The big news for the entire numismatic community in Australia was the announcement by the Royal Australian Mint of the imminent release of another circulating commemorative – the Centenary of Canberra 20c piece! Due for release shortly, it’s an important addition to the circulating commemorative series, and one that will be added as a target for our intrepid collectors once it enters circulation!

If you’d like to secure this brand new commemorative well before you are likely to find it in your change – and in Brilliant Uncirculated condition to boot – they are available now in the 2013 20c Centenary Of Canberra PNC.

That’s it for this Choice Change Challenge update! We’ll finish up with a question: What coin would you love to find in your change today and why? Leave your answers in the comment section below!

February Footy Fever!

Footy Season has started!

An irresistible opportunity for fanatical football followers and passionate collectors alike, we are celebrating the start of the 2013 AFL season this weekend with some absolutely devastating discounts! Extremely exclusive, and officially licensed AFL products, the 2012 AFL Premiership Collection and the 2012 $1 AFL Premiership 1oz Silver Proof can now be yours at below the Official Issue Price! But only while stocks last!

2012 AFL Premiership Collection – SAVE A$50!

An officially licensed AFL product, the 2012 AFL Premiership Collection forms a prestigious keepsake of Sydney’s memorable triumph. Headlined by the Royal Australian Mint’s superbly struck .999 fine 2012 $1 AFL Premiers 1oz Silver Proof, this outstanding work of Australian sporting memorabilia also comprises a miniature replica of the 2012 AFL Premiership Cup, plus a replica of the 2012 AFL Premiers Medallion presented to the players of the winning side.

Strictly limited to an edition of 5,000 sets – each presented in a lavish timber case with a Certificate of Authenticity – this official AFL collection is normally A$295. A sensational celebratory saving, we will knock off a massive A$50 from the regular retail! Act now – only while stocks last!

2012 $1 AFL Premiership 1oz Silver Proof – SAVE A$15!

A must-have for footy fans and Silver Proof collectors alike, we also have the 2012 $1 AFL Premiership 1oz Silver Proof available individually – at under the Official Issue Price!

Struck to the apex of Proof quality from a troy ounce of .999 fine silver, the limited edition of this official Australian legal tender issue has been restricted to a mere 1,500 coins – each beautifully presented within an official RAM case. Normally A$115, this officially licensed AFL product can now be yours for less than A$100!

Year of the Snake – a fortunate year in numismatics!

Happy New Year! Yesterday was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and everyone here at Downies hopes you have a prosperous and happy Year of the Snake!

The Snake is the 6th animal in the Lunar Zodiac, exemplified by traits such as awareness, cunning, pride and decisiveness. People born in the Year of the Snake (especially with this year’s element, Water), are said to be insightful and influential, and can make great financial decisions. This affinity with money makes this Lunar Zodiac sign a particularly fitting and popular theme to feature on numismatic releases around the world.

There are some truly spectacular tributes to the Year of the Snake that have either just been released or are being awaited with great excitement. One innovative release is the Laos 2013 2,000 Kip Lunar Snake Jade 2oz Silver Proof, which contains a ring of real Jade and a gilded snake to commemorate this special year.

The Perth Mint has released some special editions that not only focus on the Zodiac theme, but emphasise its importance to the numismatic community of which we are all a part. One such release is the 2013 $1 Berlin World Money Fair Edition Year Of The Snake 1oz Coloured Silver BU – a limited edition of just 5,000, specially prepared for the Berlin World Money Fair which was held last week.

The Lunar Zodiac theme is often used by mints around the world to showcase the very best in the art and science of numismatics. It is well worth studying these new coins to see what has been achieved and what the future holds for modern coin collecting, but there are so many exciting new releases coming out to celebrate and commemorate the Year of the Snake, it can be hard to keep up.

For a handy list of this year’s Lunar Zodiac issues from around the globe, click here to visit Downies.com’s special Year of the Snake page.

Have a great Lunar New Year!

The Choice Change Challenge January update: the perils and pleasures of international travel

When we last left the Choice Change Challenge, both Alex and George were off to flying starts, with each leading in different categories. Alex had the lead in 20c and $1 commemoratives, and George led the way with $2 and 50c commemoratives. Since then, there have been two major shake ups, the first being a temporary (but major) handicap. It’s a doozy:

Alex has left the country!

George is still here in Australia, but Alex has been off for a month on a part holiday/part business trip to Europe. While Alex is collecting British and Euro commemoratives, George has found it a surprisingly challenging few weeks. Alex will return in about a week and we’ll get to see how long it takes for him to catch up!

The second shock twist is a new entrant! Hearing all the fun George and Alex were having, Jezebel here in the office decided to join in! She started over a month later, but has shot to the lead with $1 Commemoratives.

Here are the current standings:

Competitor	20c Series	50c Series	$1 Series	$2 Series
Alex	3	8	11	1
George	2	12	11	1
Jezebel	3	7	15	0

Our contestants have strict rules for this challenge (only commemoratives acquired through normal transactions can be included in the tally – no asking to rifle through shop tills!), but there are extra things you can do to get your collection up to speed! A reader of ours, Christen, handles a large amount of change across the counter every day and has found some crackers (and paid for them fair and square, obviously!).

1999 $1 Last Anzacs S Mintmark Al-Br

Honouring Australia’s Anzac heroes, the one-year-only 1999 $1 Last Anzacs Al-Br type was not issued for circulation and should never be found in change. Remarkably, Christen did indeed find one of the mere 53,286 Last Anzacs S Mintmark coins struck by the Royal Australian Mint in 1999.

1992 $1 Barcelona Olympics Al-Br

Struck in tiny numbers, with the mintage concluding at just 43,496, this one-year-only numismatic tribute to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 was not issued for circulation and, like the Anzacs $1 coin above, should never have been secured from change.

2007 $1 Ashes Al-Br

Marking the 125th anniversary of the Battle for the Ashes between Australia and England, the 2007 $1 Ashes Al-Br was not issued for circulation and has a tiny mintage of a mere 49,438.

1998 $1 Florey C Mintmark Al-Br

Part of the Royal Australian Mint’s long-running, ever-popular Mintmark $1 Series, the 1998 $1 Florey C Mintmark Al-Br had a mintage of 77,035. Not issued for general circulation, this coin should never be found in change!

2008 $1 Coat of Arms S Privymark Al-Br

Celebrating the centenary of Australia’s Coat of Arms, approved by King Edward VII in 1908, the Royal Australian Mint’s 2008 $1 S Privymark Al-Br had a tiny mintage of just 48,365, and was not issued for circulation.

An important thing to note is that Christen’s coins are some exceedingly rare finds, none of which were ever intended for circulation and in reality you should never expect to find these in change.

Alex has also found some interesting commemorative and standard types while overseas, including the above penny that when combined with the other British definitives for the year forms the “shield.” It shows that this stuff is out there – if you happen to be in Britain that is! The only way to guarantee you get the whole set of British coins in pristine Uncirculated or Proof quality is to buy the Great Britain 2013 Mint Set or Great Britain 2013 Premium Proof Set – you can get both from Downies.com.

More updates to come – in the meantime, tell us about your own collecting in the comments below:

The choice change challenge: Aussie coins in change

From time immemorial, mankind has asked important questions, questions that speak to the heart of what it means to be alive, to be human and to be a collector.

• How hard is collecting from change, really?
• What can I find?
• Will they be worth any money?
• How can I compete with my work colleagues and lord it over them when I win and blame chance when I don’t?

These important questions and more are being answered by Alex and George here in the office. On the 21^st of November, 2012, they took up this challenge: collect a full set of circulating Australian decimal commemorative coins, just from the change they get from everyday transactions. Inspired by Alex finding a 1988 50c First Fleet commemorative in Uncirculated condition (catalogue value is $25!) in his change, Alex and George decided to make the process a competition.

The goals of the competition are threefold. First, it’s a race between two friends for bragging rights. Second, as both Alex and George have been in the coin industry for a long time, they wanted to research exactly how long it would take to assemble a complete collection. Third, the process should be entertaining and informative for readers of the blog! We’ll be checking in with them over the coming months to see how they go and keeping you up-to-date on their progress.

Both are off to a great start, with some highlights of their endeavours below:

Competitor	20c Series	50c Series	$1 Series	$2 Series
Alex	3	7	11	0
George	1	8	10	1

George’s major highlight has been his discovery of the extremely low-mintage NSW and NT 2001 Federation 50c coins (mintages of 3.042m and 2m respectively), with Alex rightly pleased with unearthing a better-than-usually-seen quality example of the 1997 Smithy $1.

As you can see, collecting from circulation can be rapidly rewarding, and an interesting collection doesn’t have to take long or cost the earth to acquire.

A good step to take to complete (or start) your collection is secure an Official Mint or Proof Set, for absolutely pristine examples of decimal currency (if you are interested, check out the 2013 Australian Mint Set here and the 2013 Australian Proof Set here). Not only is it a great idea to complete your collection this way, but having the absolutely perfect example of each coin allows you to compare the coins you find against the perfect standard and can help you get a feel for grades and how coins wear down in circulation.

So, how about you – do you collect from circulation? If so, what is your favourite find? Leave your comments below and we’ll hear more about Alex and George soon.

The END is nigh! Armageddon commemorated with coins

With a whiff of sulphur hanging in the air, mingling with the tortured screams of non-believers, the lines have been drawn on the final battlefield for the fight between good and evil – Armageddon!

The end of the world is currently firmly in the public consciousness, thanks to the link between the date December 21^st, 2012 and the end of the Mesoamerican/Mayan long count calendar. A somewhat recent concern, many believe the ending of this calendar marks some sort of apocalyptic event. This view is not shared by scholars studying Mesoamerican culture, who argue that the Mayans expected the cycle to start again, much like the ending of a year in our standard calendar just means we need to buy a replacement for the fridge.

The end of the world has long been a subject of fascination throughout human history, with some going so far as to ascribe a location to the event. A place that has been the particular focus of much Western prophesying and speculation about the end of the world – dating back to the Book of Revelation – is over 10,000km away on the other side of the earth from Central America. Tel Meggido – the Hebrew name for the place commonly referred to as Armageddon and the location of the final battle according to the Bible – is of great cultural and archaeological significance.

Dating back to 7000 BCE, Tel Meggido has been the site of thirty different cities! A “tel” (or “tell” in English) is a settlement mound – a site where multiple settlements have built upon those existing previously through history; they are often places of great archaeological importance.  Occupying a position of strategic importance for numerous kingdoms, especially Assyria and Egypt, during the Canaanite and Israelite periods, Tel Meggido has already been pivotal in a number of great conflicts and trade routes through the ages.

In approximately the 15^th Century BCE, the “Battle of Meggido” took place between Egyptian forces, led by Pharoah Thutmose III, and Canaanite states. This battle was important for a number of reasons; victory at this battle marked the start of the Egyptian Empires’ largest period of expansion, for example, and it was arguably the first reliably recorded battle in history. More recently, in 1918 during the First World War, Tel Meggido was the site of a battle between the Allied Egyptian Expeditionary Force and the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group, with the Allies gaining significant ground. Tel Meggido has also been the site of great cities at various times through the ages; for more information, see the Wikipedia entry on Tel Meggido.

Due to this fascinating and significant history, UNESCO decreed Tel Meggido a World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bank of Israel has chosen Tel Meggido as the subject of its fourth coin in the ‘UNESCO World Heritage Sites’ series and it has been struck by The Holy Land Mint.

The legal tender coin is issued in both silver and gold, with the silver available in 1 and 2 New Shekel denominations, and the gold available in a 10 New Shekel variety. Extraordinarily exclusive given the global significance of the theme, only 1,800 of the silver 1 New Shekel have been made, with mintages for the silver 2 New Shekel and the gold 10 New Shekel a mere 2,800 and a miniscule 555 respectively. The obverse of the coin features an 8^th century BCE seal found during an archaeological dig. The reverse features a jug, and the surprisingly advanced aqueduct system discovered at this most remarkable location.

Whether or not you believe the world will end in a month’s time or not, Tel Meggido remains a site of immense archaeological and cultural significance. It is a fitting world heritage location and subject for tribute in coin form. If you are interested in acquiring these special coins commemorating such a remarkable location, visit Downies.com. You might want to get your orders in by December 21^st, just in case…

Israel 2012 10NIS Armageddon 1/2oz Gold Proof

Israel 2012 2NIS Armageddon 28.8g Silver Proof