"G C" (GEOFFREY COLLEY) MINT MARK ?

"G C" Mint mark omitted
BY:wan 6:22 PM 24-12-12


Hi Dickson,
Good day to you.. Actually I got a question pertaining to mint mark on Malaysia 1st series coins. Are all the Malaysia 1st series coins (10sen, 20sen, 50sen) minted with mint mark G.C?

I noticed 1970's 20sen was actually minted without G.C mint mark. Counter check with earlier coins, 1967's 20sen, was actually minted with G.C mint mark.

I also got another piece of 1973's 50sen minted without G.C mint mark. Counter check with earlier coins as well, 1967's 50sen, was actually minted with G.C mint mark.

So are these coins normal? Why did this happen? Different minter?
Thanks in advance.

Best rgds,
wan


Hi wan,
The Malaysia first issue of coinage was released on 12th.June.1967.
Five denominations i.e.
One (1)Cent on copper planchet,
Five (5)Cents,
Ten (10)Cents,
Twenty (20) Cents and
Fifty (50) Cents on cupro-nickel.
All five denominations bearing a common design.

The obverse of the coins featured the Parliament House of Malaysia,symbolising Malaysia's faith in democracy,a crescent moon symbolising Islam the official religion of the country and 13 pointed star representing Malaysia and her 13 component states.

The reverse depicts a stylised design representing the hibiscus (the national flower) and bears the denomination,the world "MALAYSIA" and the year 1967.These coins were designed by Geoffrey Colley whose initials "GC" appear on the obverse of the coin below the Parliament House.

So,"GC" is not a mint mark, is the initials of the designer.

Are these coins normal? Why did this happen? 

Actually it can be the derivation of a filled die errors,a die clashed errors or the result of a worn die.
When a die was used for many times,some of the small details will be filled up by metal dust, grease or dirt and planchets struck by these die will exhibit missing details.
A die clashed will flatten and damaged some small detail designs on the die to certain extend. Hence, small wordings such as "GC" on the die can be affected too.
Details on a die will worn off and deteriorated after been used for a long period,beside with missing details, it may exhibits die gouges (Dot),die chips and die crack concurrently.

Coins with these errors are classified under Die Errors or Die Varieties, it commands least premium compares to Planchet Errors and Striking Errors.

1 comments:

  1. Dear Dickson,

    Thanks for answer my question in your blog page..
    Actually I was referring to Steven Tan's book, 19th edition, Pg. 199, which carried this sentence: Malaysia 1967-1988 Parliament House Series definitive coins 1c to 50c exist with "G.C" Mint mark omitted varieties worth about 5-20 times normal price.

    By the way, really appreciate you to clarify this issue. And I do agree with you that it commands less premium compared to planchet errors and striking errors. These two errors are even more precious compare to omitted designer's initial in 1st parliament series coins.

    Best rgds,
    wan

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