Australian Shillings

1948 Australian Silver Shilling

.500 Silver
With the introduction of the Q-metal alloy in 1946, the older coins were being removed from circulation and melted down and either made into the new coins or used to repay Australia's war debt.
The Reserve banks had machines which could detect and remove the older coins and these were often taken to events such as the Royal Easter Show in Sydney in order to recover the older coinage.
In August 1956 the Government shipped nearly £3 million of recovered silver to repay the balance of the silver owed for the coins made by the US during WWII
This is one of the reasons for the higher mintages and conversely, why mintages of coins are not always true guides to rarity.

Mintage
4,132,000

Collectors should consider acquiring most of the King George VI series in Choice Uncirculated or better coins, these are still affordable with the greatest possible upside.
The George VI obverse is very difficult to grade, the rounded features, lower relief and the large variation to the degree in which this design is struck all add up to quite a challenge.
When looking at the Thomas Paget obverse the points to look at are:
  • The definition in the King's hair,
  • The King's cheek,
  • The top of the ear and at the top of the brow
  • Overall lustre, the fields, denticles and rim condition,
  • A weak strike shows in lack of definition of the hair, eye, mouth and nose.


Specifications
Composition: .500 silver
.400 copper
.050 zinc
.050 nickel
Silver Content: 0.0908 oz
Edge: Reeded
Weight: 5.65 grams
Size: 23.5 mm
Obverse: Thomas H Paget
Reverse: George Kruger Gray

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