1917 halfpenny
au-halfpenny-1917
A coin of this date, photographed
Museums Victoria holds one of these and photographs each one, which is a documented proof that a coin bearing this date exists. It says nothing about how many were struck, and is not counted as a mintage anywhere here.
What they hold: circulating.
Coin - Halfpenny, Australia, 1917 circulating
Mintage
no-coin-dated-figure 5,760,000 pieces
No document names how many coins were struck bearing the date 1917. This counts what Calcutta Mint, India (mintmark I) struck for Australia during report year 1917, which is a different quantity: Australia's early coin was made in England and India, and the reports state a report year rather than the date on the coin.
| Figure | Mint | What was counted | Source, and its own words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,760,000 | Calcutta Mint, India (mintmark I) | struck-in-report-year what Calcutta Mint, India (mintmark I) struck for Australia during report year 1917 |
Reports of the Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, Imperial and Colonial coinage appendices
1,30' 1581 5,274.058t | 1 1,032.002 3,807,208, 0,210,0001 5.7000001 £12,000 x 480 coins per pound |
What can be said instead
No document names a figure for coins dated 1917. The reports do say what the branch mints delivered in the report years around it, and a coin of this date had to come from one of those deliveries.
| Report year | As the report prints it | In pieces | Mint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 6,9301. | 3,326,400 | Sydney |
So at most 3,326,400 pieces can bear the date 1917, if Coins dated 1917 were struck in report year 1917 or 1918.
The reports describe dates lagging by a year, but not always by only one: the 1939 report records that Melbourne went on using 1936 dies throughout 1937. Where a date persisted, the true figure can exceed this ceiling.
What this page does not tell you
It does not tell you what the coin is worth. A catalogue can honestly report how many were struck, what metal is in one, and what the documents say. It cannot report a market price without either inventing it or copying someone who might have. So this catalogue reports the first three and stays quiet about the fourth.