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

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Obverse 1 - English

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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:	Upstroke on 'N' of 'OMN' falls between two denticles

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:	Apex of first 'A' of 'AUSTRALIA' falls between two denticles Apex of second 'A' of 'AUSTRALIA' aligns with a denticle Apex of last 'A' of 'AUSTRALIA' aligns with a denticle Straight based letters in the legend

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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 3	$150 + NGC PCGS 4	$200 + NGC PCGS 4	$300 + NGC PCGS 8	$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

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Benchmark

Adjectival

NGC/PCGS

Collectable grades

Does not exist by definition

Investment grades

Unlikely to exist

Aspirational grades

Bullion or metal value

Not known in these grades

Value as above

Proof

Y (Yes)
N (Not known)

Last updated April 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.