1924 Penny with Indian obverse - PCGS MS63BN

Australia, 1924 Penny with Indian obverse -

There are a lot of varieties across the pre-decimal series, but some of the most popular relate to the obverse and reverse die varieties of George V pennies. For those in the know, there were two types of obverse dies used in the striking of George V pennies, the so-called London or English obverse die and the Calcutta or Indian obverse die. Certain combinations of date and obverse die type are valuable, even in lower grades, while other combinations are common. The 1924 penny with obverse struck with the Indian die is one of the harder combinations, particularly so in Mint State. The coin photographed above was sourced from a Canberra collection, and is one of the nicest 1924 Indian die pennies I’ve seen in the flesh. (I do know of two superior examples (both graded MS64RB with PCGS), but both coins are in collections and are not currently on the market.) Its price, at $2,250, is speculative, as there have been so few examples on the market in this grade, although input from a well-known varieties expert in Melbourne indicates this value to be “about right”. Another example, described as “extremely fine”, went under the hammer in April 2004 with an estimate of $2,000. Speculative, but a good chance for upside if the variety turns out to be far rarer than anyone anticipated.