AUSTRALIA'S FANTASY GOOSE DOLLAR COINS

Three specimens of one of Australia’s iconic “coins” was featured in Noble Numismatics’ August sale in Melbourne. One was an extremely rare gold example, the other two silver. The gold piece sold for $22,135 on an $8,000 estimate. The better of the two silver realized $1,631 on a $1,250 estimate.

The “coin” is a fantasy piece produced when Australia converted to decimal currency in 1966, but with no dollar coin. So a magazine contest ensured to create a pattern crown-sized dollar coin that might fill the gap.

The winning design by a country mile was that of the late Andor Meszaros. It was way ahead of its time. The obverse showed an Australian Black Swan in flight along with a crown, date and the simple legend: AUSTRALIA. The reverse displayed a spray of eucalyptus (Australian gum tree) flowers and leaves along with the numerals 1 0 0 writ large.

To read the complete article, see: Fantasy Coin Evokes Canada’s Goose Dollar (www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=27377)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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