Australian penny coins by the years
Penny 1911
Mint: London
Mint mark: None
Mintage: 3,768,000
Penny 1912
Mint: Heaton & Son
Mint mark: H below lower scroll
Mintage: 3,600,000
The 1911 penny was struck at the Royal Mint in London but in 1912 the task of minting Australian pennies was sub-contracted to the private mint facility of Heaton & Son in Birmingham. The same obverse die was used for the London and Birmingham strikes but the reverse dies were different. The 1911 (London) reverse had 174 rim denticles but the 1912 (Birmingham) die sported 177.
Penny 1913
Mint: Obverse - London, Reverse - Birmingham
Mint mark: None
Mintage: 2,520,000
Penny 1914
Mint: Obverse - London, Reverse - Birmingham
Mint mark: None
Mintage: 720,000
Penny 1915
Mint: Obverse - London, Reverse - Birmingham
Mint mark: None
Mintage: 960,000
Mint: Obverse - London, Reverse - Birmingham
Mint mark: H below lower scroll
Mintage: 1,320,000
Penny 1916
Mint: CalcuttaMint mark: I below lower scroll
Mintage: 3,324,000
The demands on the Royal Mint imposed by World War I meant that it could not
fulfil all the coinage needs of the Australian government. At the time, the Australian
branch mints in Sydney and Melbourne were not equipped to strike copper coinage
and so the Royal Mint temporised by assigning the contract for Australian bronze
coinage to the Calcutta branch mint.
New obverse and reverse tools were sent to Calcutta.
Penny 1917
Mint: CalcuttaMint mark: I below lower scroll
Mintage: 6,240,000
Penny 1918
Mint: CalcuttaMint mark: I below lower scroll
Mintage: 1,200,000
Penny 1919
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 5,817,000
Penny 1920
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 5,817,000
Penny 1922
Mint: Melbourne and PerthMint mark: None
Mintage: 12,697,000
Penny 1924
Mint: Melbourne and SydneyMint mark: None
Mintage: 2,649,840 + 2,016,000
Penny 1925
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 117,600
Penny 1928
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 3,086,000
Penny 1929
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 2,599,000
Penny 1930
The 1930 penny is probably the most famous of all the Australian Commonwealth coins. Its existence was not known for some time after the coin was released into circulation.
According to an article titled "Notes on Australian Pre-decimal Coinage" by Bill Mullett published in the 1996 Journal of the Australian Numismatic Society, "The now famous 1930 penny was the result of experimental work undertaken to produce better pennies for the 1930s".
No pennies were ordered by the Treasury for 1930. The 1931 order did not specify a date to appear on the coins and so the good coins from the 1930 experimental work were available for distribution with the 1931 mint issue.
It is not known how many 1930 pennies were struck. Estimates vary from around 2,000 to 10,000 with about 3,000 being the most commonly quoted figure. About 1,500 coins are being traded in the marketplace.
The fame of this coin is responsible for its high price.
A 1930 penny in VF condition will fetch something close to $30,000 whereas an uncirculated 5/- Internment Camps token of which maybe 80 specimens exist, might fetch less than a tenth of that price
Penny 1931
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 494,400
Penny 1932
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 2,116,000
Penny 1933
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 5,817,000
Penny 1942
Mint: PerthMint mark: None
Mintage: 12,244,800
Mint: Bombay
Mint mark: Dots before and after PENNY
Mintage: 9,000,007
Penny 1943
Australian pennies dated 1943 were minted in Melbourne, Perth and Bombay. The Melbourne and Perth issues were struck with dies made from the 1938 master tools and the only distinguishing feature is a small dot after the Y of PENNY on the Perth issue. The Bombay issue was first struck using dies made from the 1942 Bombay tools but apparently quite early in the year a new reverse master was made with less flamboyant rim embellishment and that tool was used to make working dies for the bulk of the 1943 striking.
Mint: Melbourne
Mint mark: None
Mintage: 11,017,200
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 33,086,400
Mint: Bombay
Mint mark: Dots before and after PENNY
Mintage: 9,000,006
Penny 1944
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 2,450,400
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 27,830,400
Penny 1945
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 10,125,600
Penny 1946
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 363,600
Penny 1947
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 6,759,600
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 4,490,400
Penny 1948
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 26,625,600
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 1,533,600
Penny 1953
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 6,933,600
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 6,202,800
Penny 1955
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 6,348,000
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 11,109,600
Penny 1956
Mint: MelbourneMint mark: None
Mintage: 13,872,000
Mint: Perth
Mint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 12,121,200
Penny 1957
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 15,773,200
Penny 1960
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 20,052,000
Penny 1961
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 32,868,000
Penny 1962
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 34,861,60
Penny 1963
Mint: PerthMint mark: Dot after PENNY
Mintage: 37,234,700
Other Australian coins
Brief catalog of crown coinage
Elizabeth II coins (1952-2022)