When a “peckish” Perth man popped into a petrol station for a bottle of water and a chicken and vegetable pie, he was handed $9 in change, but quickly noticed it was worth much more.
The $2 coin in the palm of Joel Kandiah’s hand, which can fetch up to $110, was enough to stop him in his tracks — but Kandiah said rare coin discoveries are becoming ever rarer, now that cash transactions are disappearing.
“The servo does gourmet pies, and I was a bit peckish, so I thought I’d just go in a grab one. I just went through my normal process, and made the transaction,” Kandiah, the numismatist behind The History of Money, told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Then I turned around, looked at my coins, and just stood there. I just thought, you have got to be kidding me.”
“I looked at it, and kept shaking my head. It was just this rare moment of joy.”
it had been more than 10 years since he organically found a coin like this in his change, and noted that a slowing circulation of cash in the digital age meant it was becoming harder to collect coins at face value.
“It’s very unlikely to find one in your change, but it’s still a great moment when you do find it — it’s insane.”
Just under one million units of the purple-coloured $2 coin were minted to celebrate the Queen’s Coronation 60th anniversary in 2013, and Kandiah remembers picking up a few when they started appearing.
It’s worth about $40 in its worst condition, and about $110 in its best condition, according to Kandiah.
In the 13 years between 2007 and 2022, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock reported that cash transactions fell 70 per cent — now just 13 per cent of all transactions in Australia involve cash.
(7 News)
