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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/1911 King George V Australian One Penny

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Expert: - 1/20/2011


Question
I think this is a coronation penny. King George V is wearing a crown. Inscription around his head Georgivs V D.G. BRITT:OMN:REX F.D.IND.IMP:
What interests me is that it is defaced (NOT the suffragette of England) with (top Line) MMD (bottom line) 11.(?).17, the characters show as punched lines, not cut lines.  Do you know if this defacing is common or do you think it might be a personal 'keepsake'?  Thank you (cannot upload an image right now, but will try if you need it).

Answer
Hi Susan,
This is a normal penny that was counter-stamped. This was a fairly common practice in many countries, mostly done by merchants as a means of advertising.
Some, like this one, are "love" tokens, which bear the one or two people's initials and a date of significance. This was certainly a personal keepsake.
Thanks for the question! =)

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Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

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Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

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A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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