2021-08-18 Wed

Continuing the theme of ‘World’s firsts’ from Pobjoy Mint featuring Victorian stamps, a new innovative legal tender coin on behalf of the Government of the British Virgin Islands - the release of the World’s first Turquoise Titanium Bi-Metal and Turquoise Titanium coins was released.

In 1854, Western Australia issued its first stamps, featuring the colony's symbol, the Black Swan. The 1d black was engraved in England. In January 1855 additional 4d stamps were needed but when Alfred Hillman brought the stone out of storage, he found that two of the impressions were damaged, and had to redo them. One of the replaced frames was tilted, and the other accidentally redone upside-down.

The stone's block of 60 was transferred four times to make the printing stone, and 97 sheets were printed before Hillman discovered the mistake and corrected it, resulting in a total of 388 errors being printed. The error went unrecognized and unreported for several years and only 15 complete copies have survived with no unused copies known of.

These unique Turquoise coins show the colour of this rare stamp which is re-produced on these coins. These coins carry a fine effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley on the obverse and the engraving of the stamp on the reverse with the denomination 5 dollars and legend “150th Anniversary of the Inverted Swan.

Image Courtesy: coinbazaar.in