On the 7.30 report on ABC television tonight there was an item about a 1930 Penny up for sale at an asking price of $2m. I remember as a kid back in the 40s and 50s checking every penny for the fabled 1930 one. The one that is up for sale is one of six proof coins produced by the Melbourne Mint. Other 1930 coins still bring a fair bit of money, but not in the league of this proof example.
The report made me think about all the pre-decimal coins of Australia. Almost all the coins and notes had common names....a threepenny coin was called a Tray; the sixpence was a Zak, the shilling was a Bob or a Deener. The two shilling Florin was called Two Bob; the ten shilling note was Ten Bob and the one Pound note was a Quid. I cannot recall the halfpenny or penny having names. Higher denominations didn't seem to have common names....probably because not many people regularly had them in hand.
Joan has just googled a discussion about pre-decimal coin names and their reputed origins. Quite interesting, but I believe the origin of Deener can be linked to WW1 and the Arabic dinar.
Our current decimal coinage and notes don't have popular common names. How strange!
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1 comment:
Abrorigines up Jigalong way used to call 50 cent pieces 'cartaweelas' because they were big enough to be cart wheels.
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