I received my August issue of the Australasian Coin and Banknote Magazine in the mail today and with interest turned to the Letters to the Editor. Each month Steele Waterman of Watermans Coins and Banknotes replies to letters or emails sent in to CAB asking for information or sharing their reader knowledge.
This month brings an interesting letter from reader Ken who claims and has provided a photo to prove that he's found a 2012 proof set with a 2013 dated coin! This will have collectors rushing to check their proof sets to see if they too have been lucky enough to happen upon an error set.
Ken purchased his 2012 proof set from the Geelong post office and after he'd inspected it he realised a major mistake had occured at the mint. Ken reminds us that we've seen before 1985 10c pieces in 1986 mint sets and these sets today realise a hefty premium over a regular set although the mint set packaging is not tamper proof. The proof sets are more secure however with a tough plastic casing so it's not thought that this new error set has been unscrupulously manufactured. It's been a simple mistake in packaging up the sets at the Royal Australian Mint. I recall my trip to the Mint in March this year where they were in fact minting the proof coins for 2013 already. I was asked not to look at those coins as they were under embago.
This set is of interest, as Ken says in that it's a set with a mixed up coin of a future year which I don't think we've ever seen before. It's always been a past coin. McDonald's 2012 (19th Edition) also suggests that 1996 proof sets have been found with a 1995 5c and 1991 proof sets with a 1990 10c. The most interesting error set I believe is the 2006 proof set with the 2005 mob of roos dollar as this coin was not issued and the error set (of which approx. 40 are known) is the only way to obtain a 2005 proof mob of roos $1.
If the 2013 coin in this 2012 error set is a mob of roos dollar (it's not entirely clear in the letter, but it's assumed) and that dollar type isn't included in the 2013 proof set then this coin might be a true rarity indeed. Are there any more out there?
Note: Subscribers to CAB receive their magazine a little bit earlier than they are usually found in newsagents. It's cheaper to subscribe too! Email auscoinbank@bigpond.com for details or to send your letters to the editor.
Posted by harrisk at July 23, 2012 7:42 PM
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