1910 Specimen Sixpence

The first 112 coins issued by the Commonwealth of Australia were reserved as specimens or presentation pieces (Noble Numismatics, 2000) , many being found with a presentation box though other than provenance or accompanying material (such as presentation box or letters) there is little that can be used to differentiate them from normal business strikes. Without such evidence, they are generally sold as business strikes although the superior strike and surfaces would no doubt command premiums for the coins anyhow. The 1910 sets were produced as proof of record strikes though not quite to proof quality. These were presented to public institutions including the Melbourne and London branches of the Royal mint. A very small number of these sets have found their way into the collector market. Noble Numismatics sold one complete set of threepence, sixpence, shilling and florin in November 1994 for $5980 (Noble Numismatics, 1994) and another set in November 2001 (Noble Numismatics, 2000) for $9087.

References

• Noble Numismatics (2000). Noble Numismatics Sale 65. Noble Numismatics Sale 65.
• Noble Numismatics (1994). Noble Numismatics Sale 46. Noble Numismatics Sale 46.
• Noble Numismatics (2000). Noble Numismatics Sale 68. Noble Numismatics Sale 68.