A 1937 Australian Crown
The silver Australian Crown was minted in Melbourne only in the years 1937 and 1938. It depicts an image of a royal crown on the reverse designed by George Kruger Gray and George VI portrait on the obverse by Thomas H Paget. It’s denomination is 5 shillings.
The Australian Crown was initially issued in 1937 to mark the occasion of the coronation of George VI. Many of these were hoarded as keepsakes of the occasion. Because of this popularity it was released again in 1938 but without much success. As a new denomination and a large coin weighing 28.27 grams with a 38.5 millimetre diameter it was considered too heavy and awkward to be carried for everyday usage. The 1937 crown has a mintage of 1 008 000 and the 1938 a mere 101 000 thus the 1938 is the rarer more sought after coin.
Because of the hoarding of the 1937 crown it is quite common to see these coins in mid-grade however rarely seen in the lowest grades and difficult to obtain in the highest grades. The highest point to note in the design when looking for wear is the cross in the orb of the crown and how distinguishable it is. Crowns are often found with heavy bag-marks because of the heavily reeded edge and the large fields.
