Next Coin > < Previous Coin < Back to Catalogue

Australia 1921 (P?) Penny (English Obverse)

Mint:Perth ? Mintage:Est 150,000 Milling:Plain
Weight:9.45 grams Diameter:30.8 mm Composition:97% Copper, 2.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin
Click to enlarge
Wear
Obverse 1 - English
Click to enlarge
Wear
Reverse B - Birmingham
Designer: Sir (Edgar) Bertram Mackennal (Initials 'B.M.' raised on truncation)
Design:Left facing profile of George V
Legend:GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: •
Denticle Count:177 teeth
Mint mark: None
Characteristics:
Designer: William Henry James Blakemore (no attribution)
Design:'ONE PENNY' surrounded by 90 beads contained within concentric circles
Legend:• COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA •
Denticle Count:177 teeth
Mint mark: None
Characteristics:
Click on Wear to show high points first susceptible to wear
Value
BM
Ad
NP
8
Good
VG10
10
VG
F12
12
about F
F15
15
Fine
VF20
20
good F
VF25
25
about VF
VF30
30
Very Fine
VF35
35
good VF
EF40
40
about EF
EF45
45
Ext Fine
AU50
50
good EF
AU53
53
about Unc
AU55
58+
virt Unc
AU58
58-60
Uncirc
MS60
58-61
Uncirc
MS61
58-62
Uncirc
MS62
63-64
Choice Unc
MS63
64-65
near Gem
MS64
65-66
Gem
MS65
66-67
Gem
MS66
67-68
Gem
MS67
68
near Flaw
MS68
69
virt Flaw
MS69
70
Flawless
MS70
Proof
B
$40
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$50
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$100
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
4
 
$150
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
4
 
$200
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
4
 
$300
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
9
 
$400
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
4
 
$500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
6
 
$750
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
3
 
$1000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
2
 
$1500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
1
 
$2000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
4
 
$3000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
1
 
$5000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$6000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$7000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$12500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
2
 
$20000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
1
 
$35000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$50000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$70000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
N
RB
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$1750
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$2500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$4000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$6000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$7000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$8000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$15000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$22500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$37500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$50000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$70000
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
N
R
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
"
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
N
BM
Benchmark
Ad
Adjectival
NP
NGC/PCGS
Collectable grades
Does not exist by definition

Investment grades
-
Unlikely to exist

Aspirational grades
BV
Bullion or metal value

Not known in these grades
''
Value as above
Proof
Y (Yes)
N (Not known)
Last updated November 2024
Notes:
The Perth Mint is recorded as having struck 1,008,000 coins in its 1921 production year which were presumed to have been dated 1922. However, a survey in 2014 of over 100,000 unsorted pennies revealed a ratio of about one in fifty 1921 pennies with an 'English' obverse which suggests the possibility that they may have been struck at the Perth Mint. The Sydney Mint possessed three of the 'English' obverse dies which it had used sparingly to produce the 1919 .//. Penny and just a handful of 1920 /./ pennies, and so it is possible that one of the two obverse dies that Sydney sent to Perth in 1920, so that it too could experiment with penny production, was of this type. The supposition is that an 'English' obverse die was used experimentally with one or more of the four 1921-dated 'Birmingham' reverse dies that the Perth Mint received from Melbourne in early 1922. It was standard mint practice to trial the presses with redundant dies before a new year's production was commenced and so it is conceivable that the 1921-dated dies which were on hand were used for this purpose.

The reverse die used on this variety is intriguing as it appears to be linked to the unalterted 'Birmingham' reverse dies used on both the 1922 'English' and 'Indian' reverse pennies. It has been firmly established that both the 'English' and 'Indian' obverse varieties of the 1922 'Indian' obverse pennies were Perth-struck which would lead to a rethink on the origins of the 1922 'English' obverse Penny with the unaltered 'Birmingham' reverse. This coin is also a scarce variety which is difficult to find in high-grade and logic would dictate that it too it may have been an 'experimental' strike by the Perth Mint.

It is also interesting to note that the 1921-dated hub that resulted in the 1921 'English' Penny variety still existed in 1931 when it was altered to produce the 'Birmingham' reverse 1931 pennies. To paraphase W.J. Mullet, a senior officer of the Melbourne Mint, a hub used to produce the 1921 pennies had a '2' removed and a '3' inserted on the subsequent master die. Both 1931 Penny varieties with the 'Birmingham' reverse closely match the reverse on the 1921 Penny with the 'English' obverse which would seem to affirm this connection. Like both the 1931 'Birmingham' reverse pennies, the 1921 'English' obverse Penny has predominantly straight based letters in the legend.

Whether the 1921 'English' obverse Penny was struck in Melbourne or Perth it is an extremely rare coin in uncirculated condition with only a couple known in Mint State.