calling all numisti...numasthetis...coin collectors

[danny_galaga]

ok, so a while ago i decided i wanted a 1979 20c piece to play galaxians with. i went through my whole bucket of 20's and only found ONE 2979 (edit: no, i didnt buy that time machine on ebay. should be 1979) coin. i did notice that there seemed to be quite a few 1981 coins though and so later i counted them all out and sure enough there were heaps more 1981's. the graph range is from 1966 (when decimal currency was introduced in oz) to 1982.

i happened to browse a coin collectors book in a shop the other week and sure enough in 1980 they minted about 80 million and in 1981 they minted about 260 million. so many that 50 million each had to be made in canada and wales. in 1983-4 they went back to more normal levels but almost ALL of the 83-84 were later melted down and sold for the metal (at a profit i believe!).which makes them quite rare now...

anyway, my question is this. is it likely that 1981 in australia was a bit like 1978(?) in japan when space invaders fever caused a huge shortage of coins?

[Harry Potter]

You have waaaaaaaaaaay too much time time on your hands. Shouldn't you be starting a cab or something equally useful?

[DrewKaree]

You have waaaaaaaaaaay too much time time on your hands.

I think what made me come to that conclusion as well was this little nugget

ok, so a while ago i decided i wanted a 1979 20c piece to play galaxians with.

I mean, when you have enough time to sit there and ponder the specific COIN that you'd wish to play a game with.........

[danny_galaga]

ok, ok. the whole story is that i had just bought 'back in black' at that time and i put it on and put galaxians on the cab and then i thought it would be a nice trifecta to have a coin from the same time too thinking it would take only a few seconds to find one in the pile.

i actually shouldnt have any time on my hands as i am moving AND renovating at the same time 

but hey, theres always time for MAME 

[danny_galaga]

so.....
does anyone know? what about in the US or UK? was there a coin shortage there because of the arcade explosion?