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Proof 1953 Penny struck as a Coin of Record at the Perth Mint


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Proof-1953-Penny-Obv-37409-March-2021
Proof 1953 Penny struck as a Coin of Record at the Perth Mint
COIN
Proof 1953 Penny struck as a Coin of Record at the Perth Mint
PRICE
$45,000
STATUS
Sold April 2021
QUALITY
A spectacular proof strike with original copper brilliance, highly reflective surfaces and dazzling iridescent toning on the periphery
PROVENANCE
Private Collection Melbourne
COMMENTS
A coin can be rare because so few examples were struck. A coin can also be rare because it has quality traits that make it the absolute exception to the norm, placing it into an elite and very small group of examples. This Proof 1953 Penny is rare on both counts! The original mintage is believed to be twenty with most of the examples going to public institutions and therefore out of reach of collectors. And the quality is spectacular. So that you can appreciate the rarity of a coin at this dazzling quality level, we make the comment that we have sold only one other Proof 1953 Penny that we would describe as spectacular. And that was nine years ago to a Melbourne collector.
Proof-1953-Penny-Obv-37409-March-2021
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The rarity of the Proof 1953 Penny was confirmed in 1995 in an article published in the NAA journal (Volume 8) by John Sharples, the then Curator of Australia’s Numismatic Archives.

He examined the distribution of proof coins recorded in Perth Mint communications and records over the period 1940 – 1954.

He found evidence that twenty proof pennies were struck at the Perth Mint in 1953.

He noted that two private collectors (most likely Syd Hagley and Ray Jewell) received examples of the pre-1955 proof coins, such was the influence of these collectors. The balance of the mintage, however, was destined for the mint's own archives with the majority sent to Public Collections and Numismatic Societies.

The official list authorised to receive Perth proofs were the Australian War Memorial, Royal Mint London, British Museum, Royal Mint Melbourne, Japan Mint, National Gallery SA, Art Gallery WA, National Gallery Victoria, Victorian Numismatic Society, South Australian Numismatic Society and the Australian Numismatic Society.

That the bulk of the mintage was gifted to institutions is the very reason why they are so rare in today's collector market.

We might sight a Proof 1953 Penny on the market every two to three years. And one as spectacular as this ... perhaps once in a decade, if we are lucky.

History of the Perth Mint

To facilitate the rapid conversion of gold into sovereigns and half sovereigns, the British Government authorised the establishment of the Sydney Mint in 1855 followed by the Melbourne Mint in 1872.

A gold rush, triggered in Western Australia following the discovery of vast gold fields in Coolgardie in 1892 and Kalgoorlie in 1893, convinced the British Government to authorise the opening of a mint in Perth.

History of the Perth Mint ... continued.

The Perth Mint opened in 1899 and remained a gold producing mint from the year of its opening until 1931 when Australia struck its last sovereign and the coining presses at the Mint ground to a halt. The Perth Mint endured a nine-year period of nil coin production.

That the Melbourne Mint was striking Australia’s Commonwealth coins and that Australia was in the midst of a depression simply meant that the minting facilities at Perth were excess to requirements.

The onset of war created a window of opportunity and in 1940 the Perth Mint took up the reins for striking Australia’s circulating copper coins for the Commonwealth Government.

The Perth Mint continued to strike copper coins until 1964, when two years later Australia converted to decimal currency.

In accordance with minting traditions the Perth Mint struck proof record pieces of those coins being struck for circulation. Some of the pieces were archived. Some were gifted to prominent Australian and overseas institutions fulfilling the ideology of proofs being struck as display pieces. The Royal Mint London, the British Museum, Royal Mint Melbourne, Japan Mint, National Gallery SA, Art Gallery WA and the Australian War Memorial were just some of the institutions to receive Perth proofs.

There was no hint of commercialism in the production of these pieces. Posterity, the preservation of Australia’s coining heritage … that and a passion for numismatics were the driving forces behind their striking. The collector market was denied access to the coins.

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