Coin Grade Fine (VF20-25) in a ‘star’ Shilling

Australian Shilling KGV 1921 S “star” KM# 26

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This is an interesting coin on account of its relatively low mintage and unique reverse design.

Grading Fine (VF20-25)

The coin pictured is in Fine grade – on the reverse, although showing wear, all of the letters in the scroll (“ADVANCE AUSTRALIA”) are clearly legible. I believe that’s really a minimum requirement for the coin to make that grade.

The special bit is the star above the date, which indicates that this example came from the Sydney mint at a time when there was some concern over the fineness of silver coinage – Great Britain reduced the purity of its silver coins to 50% silver from 1920 onwards. The star on these shillings from Australia shows that they are sterling silver (92.5%).

As it happened, Aussie coins remained on the sterling silver standard up until 1945 and the ’21 shilling became the only one to ever have a star on one side.

Happy collecting!