1923 halfpenny
au-halfpenny-1923
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: proof. None of these is a circulating strike, so this date is attested only by pieces that were never issued for use.
Proof Coin - Halfpenny, Australia, 1923 proof
Mintage
No mintage figure is recorded for this issue yet.
What can be said instead
No document names a figure for coins dated 1923. 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 | Pieces delivered | Mint |
|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 1,113,600 | Sydney |
| 1924 | 681,600 | Melbourne |
So at most 1,795,200 pieces can bear the date 1923, if Coins dated 1923 were struck in report year 1923 or 1924.
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.
Where the usual figure comes from. A mintage of 1,113,600 for 1923 is what you get by taking the report year 1923 delivery and treating it as the coin’s date. That is the commonest figure in circulation for this coin and it rests on an assumption the reports themselves contradict, which is why this catalogue prints it here as an explanation rather than above as a mintage.
Varieties recorded for this coin
A variety is a claim about a coin, and claims differ in how well they are evidenced. The grade beside each says what kind of source stands behind it. This catalogue prints no valuations, so nothing here tells you what a variety is worth.
| Variety | How you tell it apart | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 halfpenny (key date; not a variety) | Date 1923; key date rather than die variety | trade
a dealer, auction house or grading service |
source Dealer's “well below” claim is not a census; excluded from population. Same URL [200]: “records indicate that 1.113m halfpennies were struck in 1923” versus “the actual mintage of the 1923 Halfpenny is estimated to be approximately 15,000.” |
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.