Pre-Decimal Proofs

Australian Proof coins struck prior to 1955 were not struck for commercial purposes but only to be kept as a premium example for the Mints Museum collection or a foreign countries Museum or alternatively specially struck in order to use for a presentation to VIP's. As a result Australian Pre 1955 Proofs are extremely rare with as few as 2-3 pieces and in most cases up to a maximum of 10 pieces available to private collectors worldwide.

Pre 1955 Proof Gold issues were struck at the Sydney, Melbourne or Perth branches of the British Royal Mint, the Silver and Copper issues were struck at the Melbourne or Perth branches.

The second distinct area of Australian Pre-Decimal Proofs are those struck between 1955 and 1963 at both the Melbourne and Perth Mints. These where sold loose at 2 Shillings plus face value. All these were issued as sets as well as individual coins and presented in a cellophane packet for Perth Mint and in greaseproof paper for the Melbourne Mint which has enabled many uneducated collectors to open and handle the pieces. From 1960 the Melbourne sets were sold in sealed plastic packages and 2 years later introduced a black plastic box with no protection around the coinsAs a result to get perfect FDC coins, particularly copper ones, is difficult and quite deceiving in terms of their overall rarity. Although the mintage figure for the 1955-1963 Proofs is between 301 to 5042 of each piece, this is tiny compared with say a 1988 modern day Proof Set with a mintage of 101,000. With the many impaired coins out there perfect FDC coins represent good growth potential at affordable price points.

The Perth Mint only produced bronze pennies and half pennies and often lightly lacquered these coins, as a result of this they can often be found in BU condition. The Melbourne Mint produced all the silver issue and some of the bronze issues. Compared to modern proof coins, the earlier versions look rather crude. These coins come from a generation of craftsmen who saw each coin as a miniature work of art.

Some knowledge is required to separate them from normal circulation coins as some of the earlier issues were struck with normal polished dies. One of the difficulties associated with identifying these coins comes from the way they were stored for sale. They were kept loose in a metal drawer, with a layer of felt, so the coins moved every time the drawer was opened and closed for each purchaser, causing some light friction marks and scratches on the high points.

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Australian Pre-Decimal Proof Issues Proofs, patterns and trials go back to the earliest of coins but very few of these coins where struck, mainly for official purposes, making them extremely rare and valuable. The Australian Pre-Decimal Proof coin series can be automatically split up between two distinct different series, those struck between 1955 to 1963 and those Extremely Rare issues struck prior to 1955. In 1957 the Melbourne Mint had a lot of unsold and broken sets still in stock and officials at the mint were considering abandoning the series altogether when a dealer , Ray Jewell, promised to buy all unsold stock at the end of each year. This was enough to convince the mint to continue. In the following years the series gathered momentum as reflected in the increased mintages.
Year	Type	Mintage	Year	Type	Mintage

	1d, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d, 1/2d
1955	Melbourne	1200	1955	Perth	301

	1d, 2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d
1956	Melbourne	1500	1956	Perth	417

	2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d
1957	Melbourne	1256	1957	Perth	1112

	1d, 2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d
1958	Melbourne	1506	1958	Perth	1028

	1d, 1/2d, 2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d
1959	Melbourne	1506	1959	Perth	1030

	2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d, 1/2d
1960	Melbourne	1509	1960	Perth	1030

	2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d, 1/2d
1961	Melbourne	1506	1961	Perth	1040

	2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d, 1/2d
1962	Melbourne	2106	1962	Perth	1064

	2/-, 1/-, 6d, 3d			1d, 1/2d
1963	Melbourne	5042	1963	Perth	1100

Australian Proof coins struck prior to 1955 were not struck for commercial purposes but only to be kept as a premium example for the Mints Museum collection or a foreign countries Museum or alternatively specially struck in order to use for a presentation to VIP's. As a result Australian Pre 1955 Proofs are extremely rare with as few as 2-3 pieces and in most cases up to a maximum of 10 pieces available to private collectors worldwide. Pre 1955 Proof Gold issues were struck at the Sydney, Melbourne or Perth branches of the British Royal Mint, the Silver and Copper issues were struck at the Melbourne or Perth branches. The second distinct area of Australian Pre-Decimal Proofs are those struck between 1955 and 1963 at both the Melbourne and Perth Mints. These where sold loose at 2 Shillings plus face value. All these were issued as sets as well as individual coins and presented in a cellophane packet for Perth Mint and in greaseproof paper for the Melbourne Mint which has enabled many uneducated collectors to open and handle the pieces. From 1960 the Melbourne sets were sold in sealed plastic packages and 2 years later introduced a black plastic box with no protection around the coinsAs a result to get perfect FDC coins, particularly copper ones, is difficult and quite deceiving in terms of their overall rarity. Although the mintage figure for the 1955-1963 Proofs is between 301 to 5042 of each piece, this is tiny compared with say a 1988 modern day Proof Set with a mintage of 101,000. With the many impaired coins out there perfect FDC coins represent good growth potential at affordable price points. The Perth Mint only produced bronze pennies and half pennies and often lightly lacquered these coins, as a result of this they can often be found in BU condition. The Melbourne Mint produced all the silver issue and some of the bronze issues. Compared to modern proof coins, the earlier versions look rather crude. These coins come from a generation of craftsmen who saw each coin as a miniature work of art. Some knowledge is required to separate them from normal circulation coins as some of the earlier issues were struck with normal polished dies. One of the difficulties associated with identifying these coins comes from the way they were stored for sale. They were kept loose in a metal drawer, with a layer of felt, so the coins moved every time the drawer was opened and closed for each purchaser, causing some light friction marks and scratches on the high points. Main