Australian numismatic royalty, the Syd Hagley Proof 1925 Penny.

Australian numismatic royalty, the Syd Hagley Proof 1925 Penny.

Offered at $135,000.

A brilliant full mint red, gem proof, FDC. Excessively rare, the finest of three known.

Ex Syd Hagley • Spink Auctions October 1977, lot 667 • Spink Auctions Australia March 1981, lot 605 • Spink Auctions Australia July 1987, Lot 1898 • Noble Numismatics Auction November 2009, Lot 1492.

The Proof 1925 Penny is Australian numismatic royalty, a Coin of Record struck at the Melbourne Mint. In the context of the Australian penny series, it is second only in prominence to the famous Proof 1930 Penny.

Their 'greatness' stems from the fact that both coins are proof strikings of Australia's rarest pennies, the 1925 Penny with a recorded mintage of 117,000. The 1930 Penny believed to be 1500. In an environment where pennies were struck in the millions, this is amazingly scarce.

But, there is another reason why these two coins are so highly valued. Australians just love their 'coppers'.

The penny is an evocative coin, producing memories, ideas, emotions and responses like no other. The humble penny is as Australian as you can get and people from all walks of life, and across all incomes, identify with our nation's copper coins.

The Hagley Proof 1925 Penny is a brand that promises, and delivers, an experience. The coin is legendary. And in a league of its own.

• In the numismatic industry, the development of a brand starts with an extraordinary quality coin.

And the Hagley Proof 1925 Penny is such. The coin is a full brilliant mint red, gem proof. Its state of preservation borders on the miraculous and it is, unequivocally, the finest of the three known examples.

• The brand develops with an outstanding performance in the public domain, firming its standing and establishing its reputation.

At its first auction appearance in October 1977, the Hagley Proof 1925 Penny fetched $1700 on a pre-auction estimate of $700. Four years later, in March 1981, the coin fetched $10,000 on a pre-sale estimate of $3000. Indeed, the coin has appeared at auction four times from 1977 to its most recent appearance in 2008 and on each occasion, it has sold at a price at least double that of its pre-sale estimate.

Proof coins command respect and proof coins command admiration.

Ask collectors why they pursue proof coins over circulating currency and the prestige of owning a proof coin is most likely at the top of their list. It's the euphoria that comes with owning something that looks spectacular and that very few other people can ever possess.

In some respect, proof coin collectors are playing it smart because the inherent rarity of proof coinage provides a level of assurance that the market will never be inundated with examples, protecting their investment.

And while all proof coins are desirable ... some are more desirable than others.

Within the proof coin market there is a hierarchy with some proofs ranked more important than others.

Right at the 'top of the tree' for importance and hence value are the proofs of coins that have a rare date status as circulating currency.

So, the rarer the coin as circulating currency, the higher the value of its proof coin counterpart.

There are four rare date Australian pennies, 1925, 1930, 1931 and 1946. (No proofs were struck of the 1946 Penny.)

The Proof 1930 Penny is at the 'top of the tree' for importance. It is a proof striking of Australia's rarest circulating penny, the industry contending that 1500 pennies were accidentally struck in 1930 and released into circulation.

Next in importance, the Proof 1925 Penny. A proof striking of Australia's second rarest circulating penny, the 1925 Penny, records indicating that 117,000 coins were struck and released into circulation.

Third in line for importance, the Proof 1931 Penny, records indicating that 474,000 pennies were struck in 1931 for circulation.

To better appreciate the minuscule nature of these mintages, more than 2.1 million pennies were released into circulation in 1932 and in the following year, more than 5.8 million pennies were issued..