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Australia 1946 (M) Shilling

Mint:Melbourne Mintage:10,072,000 Milling:Reeded
Weight:5.65 grams Diameter:23.5 mm Composition:92.5% Silver, 7.5% Copper
Click to enlarge
Wear
Obverse 3 - English
Click to enlarge
Wear
Reverse B - London
Designer: Thomas Hugh Paget (Initials 'HP' raised below truncation)
Design:Left facing profile of George VI
Legend:GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP .
Denticle Count:133 teeth
Mint mark: None
Designer: George Edward Kruger-Gray (Initials 'K.G' to right of Ram)
Design:* Merino Ram *
Legend:AUSTRALIA SHILLING •
Denticle Count:98 thick & 98 thin teeth
Mint mark: None
Click on Wear to show high points first susceptible to wear
Value
BM
Ad
NP
8
Good
VG10
10
VG
F12
12
about F
F15
15
Fine
VF20
20
good F
VF25
25
about VF
VF30
30
Very Fine
VF35
35
good VF
EF40
40
about EF
EF45
45
Ext Fine
AU50
50
good EF
AU53
53
about Unc
AU55
58+
virt Unc
AU58
58-60
Uncirc
MS60
58-61
Uncirc
MS61
58-62
Uncirc
MS62
63-64
Choice Unc
MS63
64-65
near Gem
MS64
65-66
Gem
MS65
66-67
Gem
MS66
67-68
Gem
MS67
68
near Flaw
MS68
69
virt Flaw
MS69
70
Flawless
MS70
Proof
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
BV
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$5
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$8
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
11
 
$15
+
NGC
2
 
PCGS
38
 
$30
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$40
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
9
 
$50
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
31
 
$75
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
41
1
$125
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
55
2
$250
+
NGC
2
 
PCGS
19
 
$500
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
2
 
$900
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
$1750
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
-
+
NGC
 
 
PCGS
 
 
Y
BM
Benchmark
Ad
Adjectival
NP
NGC/PCGS
Collectable grades
Does not exist by definition

Investment grades
-
Unlikely to exist

Aspirational grades
BV
Bullion or metal value

Not known in these grades
''
Value as above
Proof
Y (Yes)
N (Not known)
Last updated March 2024
Notes:
The 1946 Shilling was the first struck in quaternary silver, a yellowish-white alloy of 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel and 5% zinc. Before striking, the surface of the coin blanks are blanched with acid to remove the base metals, leaving a fine silver coating on the newly minted coins. However, the underlying alloy is quickly exposed through circulation. Quaternary silver was used in the Australian pre-decimal coinage dated 1946 onwards. At the same time sterling silver coins, but essentially florins, were systematically being withdrawn in order to repay debt. According to the research of author Tom Hanley, "... silver worth $6 million from remelted pre-1947 coins (sic should be 1946), was sent to the United States in 1956 to repay silver lent during World War II, when Australian coins worth more than $12 million were minted in San Francisco and at Denver."