The Syd Hagley Proof 1925 Penny, Australia's numismatic royalty.

The Proof 1925 Penny is Australian numismatic royalty and, if we are talking pennies, it is second only in prominence to the famous Proof 1930 Penny.

That both coins have a position of power and importance according them a regal status is because they are proof strikings of Australia's rarest circulating pennies, the 1930 Penny with a suggested mintage of 1500. And the 1925 Penny, with 117,000 struck.

But, there is another reason why the Proof 1930 Penny and the Proof 1925 Penny 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.

You know what you are getting when you acquire the Syd Hagley Proof 1925 Penny. It is a coin that promises, and delivers, an experience. In essence, it is a brand.

The development of a brand starts with an extraordinary quality coin. And then a great collector moves into the picture adding his/her name to the provenance, thereby firming its standing and establishing its reputation.

This coin is extraordinary for quality. It 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.

And the great collector? Sydney Vincent Hagley.

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.

The demand and the performance has, over the years, self-perpetuated, consolidating the coin's reputation.

Numismatic Royalty -
Australia's top three rare-date proof pennies.  

Ranking #1, the Proof 1930 Penny, 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.

Ranking #2, and 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.

Ranking #3, and third in line for importance, the Proof 1931 Penny, records indicating that 474,000 pennies were struck in 1931 for circulation.

Australian Pre-decimal Coins that were struck as proofs - but not destined for collectors - are technically referred to as Coins of Record. 

The term, COIN OF RECORD, is to a large extent self-explanatory. It is a coin that has been minted to put on record a date. Or to record a design.

What is not self-explanatory is that Coins of Record were struck to PROOF quality as presentation pieces. And were struck in the most minute numbers satisfying the requirements of the mint rather than the wants of collectors. Forget the notion of striking ten thousand proofs as collectors are accustomed to today. Let's talk about striking a total of ten coins ... or maybe less!

For today’s collectors the Coins of Record offer a wonderful link to the past and are extremely rare, two reasons that make them so popular.

There was no commercial angle in the production of Coins of Record. The mints were not out to make money from the exercise. Quite the reverse, striking a proof coin in our pre-decimal era was a very labour intensive (and hence costly) exercise that would have dented the mints annual budget quite considerably. The prime reason why so few coins were struck.

In the striking of a proof coin, the mint’s intention was to create a single masterpiece, coining perfection. Perfection in the dies. Wire brushed so that they are razor sharp. Perfection in the design, highly detailed, expertly crafted. Perfection in the fields, achieved by hand selecting unblemished blanks, polished to create a mirror shine. Perfection in the edges to encase the design … exactly what a ‘picture frame does to a canvass’.

A proof is an artistic interpretation of a coin that was intended for circulation. A proof coin is meant to be impactful, have the ‘wow’ factor and exhibit qualities that are clearly visible to the naked eye. A proof coin was never intended to be used in every-day use, tucked away in a purse. Or popped into a pocket.

So, what happened to these Coins of Record? Where did they go? And if they were struck by the mints for their own use, how did they get into collector's hands?

In the main, Coins of Record ended up in the mint’s own archives, preserving its history for future generations. Any coins that were surplus to requirements may also have been sent to a museum or public institution.

Coins of Record were also put on display at public Exhibitions. The two known examples of the Proof 1866 Sovereign and Proof 1866 Half Sovereign were especially struck to exhibit as ‘products of New South Wales’ as part of the Colonial Mints display at the International Colonial Exhibition of 1866 and the International Exposition in Paris, 1867. They were discovered in London in the early 1970s.

It is noted that many of the overseas mints have over time sold off Coins of Record that they considered excess to their requirements allowing them to come into collector's hands. The Royal Mint South Africa sold off several Australian gold proofs in the 1990s