Collectors are scrambling to get their hands on coins with Queen Elizabeth’s face as prices skyrocket after her death.
Alan Marks, owner of Melbourne Coins & Collectables Co, said there is currently an “insane demand” for collectibles printed with the Queen’s portrait.
“Collectors are frantic and aftermarket prices are skyrocketing,” he said.
The most popular coin is the Royal Australian Mint’s Platinum Jubilee coin, launched earlier this year, whose price jumped to over $ 100 after the news.
“Released at an initial recommended price of $ 12.50 per coin, it was worth 5 times the original price on the secondary market yesterday and continues to rise!” Mr. Marks said.
“Until an official tribute piece is released, I expect this piece to be highly sought after for some time.”
The collectible expert said the coins could reach $ 300 at their peak as market prices continue to rise.
While Friday was a sad day for many, Mr. Marks, along with other collecting business owners, saw their profits soar.
“Overall, in less than 48 hours since Her Majesty’s death, Melbourne Coins & Collectables Co’s business has quintupled as collectors fight for anything that bears the queen’s portrait!” He said.
While he was unable to establish exactly how much these bad boys might earn in the future, he said the need for collectors to acquire the first and last issues under a particular monarch would be constant.
“The official 2022 coin set, for example, was completely sold out yesterday on my site,” he said.
“This may or may not turn out to be the last set with its likeness, but it is definitely the last set released in its lifetime, which makes it highly collectible.”
For those looking for coins for Queen Elizabeth II, reputable coin dealers are ideal, but Australians looking to cash in on the trend can also check out platforms like eBay and Amazon, as well as social media markets.
The Perth Mint and Royal Australian Mint will also issue their own Australian tribute coins to collectors, as will the Royal Mint in the UK, Marks said.
Melbourne coin trader Sam Seigel would have had a similar run on Friday if it weren’t for a smart buyer.
Mr. Seigel received a call Monday from a collector asking to purchase everything the queen’s face wore in his shop.
He sold the man for around $ 1,600 pieces with Queen Elizabeth at his Max Stern and Co store on Collins Street.
“It must have had an internal connection to Buckingham Palace,” Seigel told the Australian Financial Review.
“The man said ‘the queen is going to die, I want everything you have with her’. But he got the last laugh because the demand for parts and other products has gone wild in the past 24 hours. I’ve never seen anything like it. “
Queen Elizabeth II is the only monarch to have appeared on Australian decimal coins.
A major storyline on the design of the new coins has also got collectors talking, with commemorative coins hitting the market and the Australian currency set to undergo massive rebranding.
But one thing that won’t change, at least not immediately, is the $ 5 bill showing his face.
Since 1995, the $ 5 bill has been marked with a portrait of the 58-year-old queen.
The Reserve Bank confirmed that “no immediate changes” for Australian banknotes.
“They will not be retired and will likely stay around for years,” a spokesperson said.
The reigning monarch has traditionally appeared on the lowest denomination of the Australian banknote, and the RBA has said it will provide further updates in due course.
The Queen was the only monarch to feature in the Australian decimal currency, introduced in 1966.
However, from next year the effigy of King Charles III will begin to appear on the reverse of the newly minted coins, but with an interesting modification it will now face left.
It is part of a tradition that dates back to the reign of Charles II in the 1600s and requires each new monarch to take turns in which direction to look.
The Treasury had collaborated with the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint to plan an effigy change on Australian coins, which will be supplied by the UK’s Royal Mint.
As this transition may take some time, coins bearing the late queen’s face may continue to be minted.
Coins depicting the queen will be legal tender, so there will be a mix of the new king and his mother in circulation for a while.
Queen Elizabeth has appeared on silver more than any other person in history, with her face adorning the currencies of 35 countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Before passing pounds, shillings and pennies, Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, appeared on the back of the country’s coins and banknotes.
But after her death in 1952, a competition was launched to draw the Queen’s effigy for coins and notes in the UK and other Commonwealth countries.
Eventually, Mary Gillick, 71, was cast for her “new” interpretation of the young monarch.
Since then, the Queen’s face on the reverse of Australian coins has been updated four times. in 1966 when Australia switched to decimal currency, again in 1985 and again in 1998.
The last modification dates back to 2019.