50 Cent Pattern

Quote:


1966 Australian Round Silver Fifty Cent Pattern
Among Australia's most important decimal coins, this 50¢ has been struck with a different pair of dies and one of perhaps 2 examples in private hands.


When decimal currency was introduced to Australia in 1966, the master hubs were prepared for The Royal Mint in Canberra by staff at The Royal Mint in London.

An article in the Australian Coin Review of July 1964 shows a model of the obverse of Australia's new coinage, one that was engraved by Arnold Machin. It clearly shares characteristics with this "pattern", namely the eyebrow and eyelashes in Elizabeth's portrait. Australia's Primte Minister at the time, Mr Harold Holt described the portrait as being "among the first to be produced within the Commonwealth using the new design." The article further states that the new design was selected with the advice of The Royal Mint Advisory Committee, under the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh.

A further article in the Australian Coin Review in November of 1964 further describes the process followed to select and produce the reverse designs on Australia's decimal coinage, particularly that the designer of the reverse designs, Mr Stuart Devlin, travelled to London several times to supervise the striking of the dies. During a presentation to the Numismatic Association of Victoria in 1964, Mr Devlin apparently went into some detail describing "the die-making procedure of The Royal Mint." In this presentation, Devlin apparently decided that "the lizard will have a tongue, and this alteration is to be made." A brief comparison of the image of the 2-cent reverse in the ACR article in November 1964 with a 2 cent piece indeed confirms that this change to the dies was implemented by Devlin.

The existence of this pattern 50¢ shows that for some reason, a range of changes were made to both the reverse, and most interestingly obverse design of the 50¢ dies that were used to produce the circulating and proof coinage for Australia in 1966. Just who made these changes and why they were executed has not yet been determined, however there is no doubt that the full story will make a fascinating addition to Australia's numismatic history. As far as I am aware, there has never been any printed reference to the difference between the portrait seen on the coinage of 1966 and the coinage struck between 1969 and 1984, much less the difference between the portrait seen on Australia's coinage in 1966 and those on other British Commonwealth coins of the same period.

The reverse of this pattern clearly shows a sharp "double bar" behind the Emu's head, and although this design element is not seen on the coins actually struck for 1966, the explanation of that is widely known to numismatists. The dies apparently deteriorated during the early stages of production to the extent that they were rendered inadequate, so the relevant area of the "double bars" was filled in on all dies used from thereon. That there are no strong double bars evident on any of the coins seen in circulation is confirmation that this step was taken.

The alteration to the obverse dies is devoid of explanation so far however. The only reference I've been able to find that could explain any change was one in the "Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins". On page 130 of the 62nd edition, the author states that "A new obverse with the Queen showing more amture facial features and wearing a tiara was introduced on all denominations in 1965. The first new obverse of the dollar had to be replaced because it gave such poor die life. The difficulty was caused by a flat field (Small Beads variety). A single trial die (Medium Beads variety) established that an obverse with the field sloping up at the edge was preferable, so new master tools were prepared (Large Beads variety) and those dies became the standard."

Just whether this description of the change to the obverse dies of the Canadian Voyageur dollar also explains the change from the obverse seen on this pattern, to the change on the obverse on the 1966 coinage, to the obverse used from 1969 onwards, is yet to be established. I expect that once this research is completed, then published in the CAB Magazine and the standard price guides, interest in this pattern will increase markedly.

I am not aware of another single decimal coin that approaches this pattern in terms of it's historical importance, rarity or desirability. It would certainly hold just as respectable a position in any collection as a Type I Specimen decimal banknote, and at the time that decimal currency was introduced in 1966, would have been far more desirable to the average collector than a 1930 penny. In terms of it's role as capturing a significant point in time in Australia's numismatic history, this coin surely ranks alongside the Holey Dollar and Dump, the Adelaide Pound, the Taylor Office patterns, a specimen set of 1910 silver coins, a proof 1927 Canberra florin, and so on. Very rarely does an opportunity come along to own a coin as exclusive and historic as this.