2000 One Dollar Mule with Ten Cent Obverse - PCGS MS62

Australia, 2000 One Dollar Mule with Ten Cent Obverse -

In the early 2000s, a collector friend of mine spent months at the local casino, perched on the edge of his bar stool overlooking the bright lights and colours of his favourite pokie. Hour after hour, he fed the machine, occasionally calling over a waitress for a lemon, lime and bitters, or getting up briefly to stretch his legs. His trips to the casino went on for months, usually after work, but sometimes on weekends too. But he was no problem gambler, and unlike those around him who were, he often went home with a smile on his face. He was a mule hunter. In the early 2000s, just after the discovery of the now-famous 2000 $1 mule, it was still possible to find examples of this modern rarity in change, so collectors of all stripes devoted hours to scouring the coins that went through their pockets. Some collectors searched casually, perhaps only half-believing they would ever find one, but a hardcore cell of collectors, called mule hunters, actively sought quantities of dollar coins, mostly from the bank but also from the pokies at the casino. My collector friend was one of those devotees, and he went through millions of dollars worth of dollar coins in those early years. Of those millions and over all those years, he nabbed only two hundred and thirty-eight mules. Years later, we arrange to have the best of those mules certified by PCGS, and of those two-hundred and thirty-eight coins, only about eight subsequently graded Mint State. The coin on offer here is one of those eight, and one of the last few mules he has left in his possession. The coin itself is a superior specimen, reasonably well-centred and pleasing to the eye. And with a backstory (or pedigree) going back to the early mule hunting days, this is one mule you don’t want to miss out on.