Australia 1928 Shilling

Mint:	Melbourne	Mintage:	332,000	Milling:	Reeded
Weight:	5.65 grams	Diameter:	23.5 mm	Composition:	92.5% Silver, 7.5% Copper

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Obverse 2 - English

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Reverse A - London

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:	141 teeth
Mint mark:	None

Designer:	William Henry James Blakemore (no attribution)
Design:	Star above a Kangaroo and Emu standing left and right of the Armorial Ensigns of the Commonwealth of Australia. 'ADVANCE AUSTRALIA' in ribbon below. ∋ ∈
Legend:	ONE SHILLING
Denticle Count:	142 teeth
Mint mark:	None
Characteristics:	The 'Swatow' counterfeits are identified by a small pimple of metal extending from the back of the emu's leg The 'Swatow' counterfeits show less detail in the grass at the foot of the shield

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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	BV + NGC 1 PCGS	BV + NGC PCGS	$12 + NGC 1 PCGS 1	$40 + NGC PCGS 3	$75 + NGC PCGS 2	$100 + NGC PCGS	$125 + NGC PCGS	$175 + NGC PCGS 1	$300 + NGC 1 PCGS	$400 + NGC PCGS 1	$450 + NGC PCGS	$600 + NGC 1 PCGS 6	$1250 + NGC PCGS 10	$2000 + NGC PCGS	$2500 + NGC 1 PCGS 1	$3250 + NGC 2 PCGS 7	$5000 + NGC 1 PCGS 6	$7500 + NGC 1 PCGS 15	$12500 + NGC PCGS 3	$20000 + NGC PCGS	$35000 + NGC PCGS	- + NGC PCGS	- + NGC PCGS	- + NGC PCGS	Y

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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 December 2024

Notes:

That the 1928 Shilling is likely to emerge as the hardest date to acquire in high grade is due only in part to the comparatively small numbers struck. The long accepted mintage of this coin was 664,000, but this was challenged in 1991 by W. J. Mullet, the Melbourne Mint official who was responsible for tabulating coin production figures. In his publication 'Australian Coinage - An Account of Particular Coins' he records that exactly half of that figure i.e. only 332,000 were actually struck.

But, surprisingly, it is not a particularly hard coin to find in very low grade and this may be explained by the the tale of the 'Swatow' fakes that were written about by the collector Owen Fleming in an Australian Coin Review article in August, 1984.

The article sets out that "Swatow, in northeastern Kwangtung province, China, was the origin of a flood of forged Australian coins which first came to the notice of the authorities in the early 1930s. The forged coins were all Australian one-shilling pieces dated 1928. They were well struck, and of good silver. Some, astonishingly, were of greater purity than their genuine counterparts. Many, it can be surmised, are in Australian collections today, their owners little realising the Chinese origin of these specimens. In 1931 and early 1932, banks in the four main capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide were not unduly suspicious when bags as well as £2 rolls of new 1928 shillings were presented over the counters for exchange into notes. But when the volume of these pieces increased to the extent that they began to accumulate in vaults, doubts were raised and inquires instituted. First, in view of the low official mintage and then in view of the low price of silver (the silver content of a shilling piece fell from 5 pence to 3 pence between 1928 and 1931), counterfeiting was suspected."

Investigations began, and to paraphrase the remainder of the article, authorities identified Kwong Khi Tseng a Sydney merchant in oriental rugs as a suspect. He was arrested as he stepped off a steamer returning from Shanghai and was found to be carrying a very large quantity of 1928 shillings in his luggage. A further search of his premises unearthed more of the counterfeit coins and he and two business associates were duly charged. Although only two were convicted all three were eventually deported "and warned that neither they, nor any of their relatives would ever be allowed to enter Australia again."

It seems the likely course that 'new' or uncirculated 1928 shillings would have been purged from the banking system to extract the forgeries from circulation leaving only the more worn examples to survive. This would explain why so few 1928 Shillings have survived in high grade but as a circulated coin it is not particularly scarce.

How many of the counterfeit shillings made it into circulation cannot be determined, but on reports it would seem probable that the official mintage of 1928 (M) shillings was somewhat augmented by an undisclosed number of 1928 (S) shillings struck unofficially in Swatow.