Shilling 1920, Coin from Australia

Shilling 1920, Coin from Australia (withdrawn 1966)

Coin	Shilling 1920

The Australian Shilling is a silver coin which was used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. It has the same dimensions and composition as the British pre-decimal shilling, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia - but not in the United Kingdom). A shilling is equal to 1/20th of a pound.

The reverse of this first type of Australian shilling coins features the 1908 Coat of Arms. In 1938, a new design superseded this one - featuring a merino ram's head; the old type of coins remained in circulation.

Coins issued in 1920 were withdrawn at decimalisation in 1966 after 46 years in circulation, but have never been formally demonetised and are still legal tender.

Mint	Melbourne Mint	Mint Mark	Letter M	Total Mintage	520,000

Obverse

Crowned and draped bust of King George V facing left (crowned effigy by Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal); the King is wearing the Imperial Crown and the ermine Robe of State, the Collar of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the Badge of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.

The artist's initials BM are in relief on the bust truncation.

Around, the monarch's legend GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·. Translated from Latin: George the Fifth, by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

Obverse Inscription	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·

Reverse
The mint mark M of the Melbourne Mint is under the date.

Reverse Inscription	ONE SHILLING 1920 ADVANCE AUSTRALIA

Edge	Milled	Edge Inscription	None

Notes

The Standard Australian Coin Catalogue 1973 lists mintage of 1,642,000.

Some experimental pieces were produced in 1920 as part of planned debasement of the silver alloy, which had a star above the date to indicate debased content; this is NOT a mint mark as in the 1921 shillings, where it denotes Sydney Mint. The debasement, in the end did not occur.

Renniks lists a Sydney Mint proof, not listed elsewhere.

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Shilling 1920: Known varieties

Variety	Proof
Images
Mintage	Issued: unknown
Variety	Star pattern (Melbourne Mint, debased silver)
Images
Mintage	Issued: unknown
Details	This is an experimental piece produced as part of planned debasement of the silver alloy. The debasement, in the end did not occur. The star indicates the debased alloy and is not (in this instance) a mint mark of the Sydney Mint. This variety is listed in the "Australian Coins and Banknotes" catalogue by Greg McDonald but not in Krause.
Variety	No mint mark
Images
Mintage	Issued: unknown (included in total)
Notes	Discovered by Online Coin Club.

Shilling 1920: References to Information Used

Source	Edition	About	Link	Notes
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Coin description	link
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mint
Australian Coin Chart	1965	Mint
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mintage
Australian Coin Chart	1965	Mintage
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Varieties	link	Star pattern (debased silver)
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins		Varieties		Proof
Online Coin Club	2016	Varieties	link	No mint mark

All (47) coins of type: Shilling

Coin Name	Mintage	Effigy	Legend
Shilling 1910	2,536,069	Portrait by George William de Saulles (Crowned Bust)	EDWARDVS VII D:G: BRITT. OMN: REX F: D: IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1911	1,700,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1912	1,000,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1913	1,200,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1914	3,300,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1915	1,300,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1916	5,141,025	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1917	5,274,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1918	3,761,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1919 (pattern)	unknown	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1920	520,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1921	1,641,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1922	2,039,924	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1924	673,658	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1925	1,448,794	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1926	2,352,100	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1927	1,146,050	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1928	664,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1931	1,000,570	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1933	220,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1934	480,100	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1935	500,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1936	2,000,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Shilling 1937 (pattern)	unknown		AUSTRALIA SHILLING 1937
Shilling 1938	1,484,250	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1939	1,520,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1940	760,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1941	3,040,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1942	5,380,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1943	18,720,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1944	22,576,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1945 (not released)	unknown	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1946	11,388,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1948	4,132,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Shilling 1950	7,188,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Shilling 1952	19,644,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Shilling 1953	12,204,000	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Shilling 1954	16,188,000	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Shilling 1955	7,493,200	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1956	6,065,500	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1957	12,669,256	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1958	7,413,506	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1959	10,877,506	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1960	14,513,509	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1961	31,865,506	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1962	6,594,016	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:
Shilling 1963	10,074,000	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA F: D:

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Shilling 1920: Details

Country	Australia
Currency	Australian Pound
Coin Type	Shilling - Coat of Arms
Issued	1920
Monarch	King George V
Effigy	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Bertram Mackennal
Reverse	Coat of Arms of Australia, 1908
Face Value	1 (x Shilling)
Total Mintage	520,000
Current	No; withdrawn 1966
Material	0.925 Silver
Designer	William Henry James Blakemore
Technology	Milled (machine-made)
Shape	Round
Orientation	Medal Alignment (Axis 0)
Size	23.5000 mm
Mass	5.6500 g
OCC ID	DANM-QEPY-CVJK-OJYG

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Shilling 1920: Photos

Image	Details
	Specimen Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Source
	Specimen Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Source
	Pattern Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Star above date shows debased silver content. Source
	Pattern Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Source
	Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: No mint mark. Source
	Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Source

Shilling 1920: Catalogue Reference IDs

Source	Reference ID
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	Australia KM# 26
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	E11
Australian Coin Chart	B12

Relevant Links

Museums Victoria: Specimen Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920

Museums Victoria: Pattern Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1920

TDK Australian Pre-Decimal coins: 1920 Australian Shilling

Shilling 1920, Coin from Australia - detailed information