Shilling 1938, Coin from Australia

Shilling 1938, Coin from Australia (withdrawn 1966)

Coin	Shilling 1938

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, or 12 pence.

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 In 1938, this new design superseded it - featuring a merino ram's head; the old type of coins remained in circulation.

Coins issued in 1938 were withdrawn at decimalisation in 1966 after 28 years in circulation, but have never been formally demonetised and are still legal tender as 10 cents.

Mint	Melbourne Mint	Mint Mark	No mint mark	Total Mintage	1,484,250 (1.5 million)

Obverse

The obverse of the coin shows the bare (uncrowned) head of King George VI facing left.

Below the neck truncation in small letters, the artist's initials HP (for [Thomas] Humphrey Paget).

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

Obverse Inscription	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.

Reverse

A merino ram's head facing three-quarters left; around above, AUSTRALIA; around below between two Federation stars, the denomination and date SHILLING · 1938.

The artist's initials K·G (for [George] Kruger Gray) are in the field above the star on the right.

Note that - unlike in later years - there is a dot after the date on this issue. This is not a mint mark.

Reverse Inscription	AUSTRALIA SHILLING · 1938.

Edge	Milled	Edge Inscription	None

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Shilling 1938: Known varieties

Variety	Proof
Images
Mintage	Issued: 250 (included in total)

Shilling 1938: References to Information Used

Source	Edition	About	Link	Notes
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Coin description	link
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mint
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mintage		Circulation mintage
Australian Coin Chart	1965	Mintage		Circulation mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mintage		Proof mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Varieties		Proof

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 1938: Details

Country	Australia
Currency	Australian Pound
Coin Type	Shilling - Ram's Head
Issued	1938
Monarch	King George VI
Effigy	King George VI - Bare Head, by Thomas Humphrey Paget
Face Value	1 (x Shilling)
Total Mintage	1,484,250 (1.5 million)
Current	No; withdrawn 1966
Material	0.925 Silver
Designer	George Kruger Gray
Technology	Milled (machine-made)
Shape	Round
Orientation	Medal Alignment (Axis 0)
Size	23.5000 mm
Mass	5.6500 g
OCC ID	YMXK-DEKQ-CJNY-EWQJ

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Shilling 1938: Photos

Image	Details
	Proof Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1938 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Proof. Source
	Proof Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1938 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Proof. Source

Shilling 1938: Catalogue Reference IDs

Source	Reference ID
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	Australia KM# 39
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	E27
Australian Coin Chart	B25

Relevant Links

Museums Victoria: Proof Coin - 1 Shilling, Australia, 1938

TDK Australian Pre-Decimal coins: 1938 Australian Shilling

Shilling 1938, Coin from Australia - detailed information