Australia 1947 Threepence

Mint:	Melbourne	Mintage:	4,824,000	Milling:	Plain
Weight:	1.41 grams	Diameter:	16 mm	Composition:	50% Silver, 40% Copper, 5% Nickel, 5% Zinc

Click to enlarge

Back

Wear Next Prev

Obverse 3 - English

Click to enlarge

Back

Wear Next Prev

Reverse C - London

Designer:	Thomas Hugh Paget (Initials 'HP' raised below truncation)
Design:	Left facing profile of George VI
Legend:	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP .
Denticle Count:	114 teeth
Mint mark:	None

Designer:	George Edward Kruger-Gray (Initials 'K' below left ribbon, 'G' below right ribbon)
Design:	Three wheat stalks bound loosely by a ribbon
Legend:	AUSTRALIA THREE PENCE
Denticle Count:	83 thick & 83 thin teeth
Mint mark:	None

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	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC 1 PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	$3 + NGC PCGS	$5 + NGC PCGS	$10 + NGC 1 PCGS	$20 + NGC 1 PCGS 2	$30 + NGC PCGS	$50 + NGC PCGS 1	$60 + NGC 3 PCGS 9	$125 + NGC 3 PCGS 12	$200 + NGC 4 PCGS 25	$300 + NGC 2 PCGS 29	$600 + NGC 1 PCGS 26	$1000 + NGC PCGS 2	$2000 + NGC PCGS	- + NGC PCGS	- + NGC PCGS	N

Click here for Threepence quick reference price guide

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 July 2024

Notes:

The 1947 Threepence was the first struck in quaternary silver, a yellowish-white alloy of 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel and 5% zinc. Before striking, the surface of the coin blanks are blanched with acid to remove the base metals, leaving a fine silver coating on the newly minted coins. However, the underlying alloy is quickly exposed through circulation. Quaternary silver was used in the Australian pre-decimal coinage dated 1946 onwards. At the same time sterling silver coins, but essentially florins, were systematically being withdrawn in order to repay debt. According to the research of author Tom Hanley, "... silver worth $6 million from remelted pre-1947 coins (sic should be 1946) was sent to the United States in 1956 to repay silver lent during World War II, when Australian coins worth more than $12 million were minted in San Francisco and at Denver."