Australia 2 Cents with and without SD 1966 to 2011

The Australian 2 cents in our main picture is not from circulation. It is a proof coin made especially for, and sold especially to, collectors. The deep mirror-like fields and frosty devices make a truly dazzling piece of art, including the intriguing frill-neck lizard. The Queen's portrait changes in 1985.

Proof coins are not like standard business strike coins, and we do not follow them on CoinQuest. The subject is too detailed for this general forum. If you want information on proofs, get a coin catalog. Every serious collector has catalogs, and lots of them.

There is an interesting variety of these coins. First, here are typical catalog values for the normal 'with SD' 2 cent coins:

COINS WITH 'SD' (see below)
worn: less than $1 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: less than $1
well preserved: $1
fully uncirculated: $2

You can see these are low-value coins. There are a few better dates, as follows:

COINS WITH 'SD' (see below)
1966: $3 fully uncirculated
1967: $3 fully unc
1968: $10 unc
1969: $2 unc
1986: $3 unc
1987: $3 unc
1972: $12 unc

Concerning the 'no SD' variety, it often takes a magnifier to see the tiny SD initials under the lizard. SD means Stuart Devlin, the coin's designer. If no SD appears, the coin is valuable because collectors want to add 'no SD' coins to their collections.

Typical values for 'no SD' coins run like this:

COINS WITHOUT 'SD'
worn: $2 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $12
well preserved: $35
fully uncirculated: $100

It is not clear why the SD initials are not present on some coins. It is probably 'die fill' wherein the hard-metal dies used to press out each coin get filled with greasy dirt before the mint workers can clean them out. This produces the 'no SD' variety and there are not many of them.
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