In fact while the diameter is the same the Aussie Pennies have a slightly thicker rim edge, about .20 mm thicker on average, which will cause jamming issues with higher payouts than a single coin. Not an issue with most single coin return Allwins of course, but usually I have to shim the slide bodies on any British import machines giving two returns. And on the bigger payouts it means making a new set of thicker slides as well. Funnily enough nearly all the Allwins I've purchased the last 20 years in the USA were missing payouts anyway so has usually worked to my advantage. The mechs were very often wholesale removed due to the strict US gaming laws when they were imported on mass in the 1970s. Recently on the prototype Essex Horse Racer I restored the payout slides couldn't be converted without re-engineering a huge amount of the mechanism, which would have cost a small fortune for the owner and ruined the machine. So I had to leave it be and the machine can only ever run on British Pennies, otherwise the machine will quickly jam and bend components.
Any Aussie Pennies that have been dropped will have an even thicker burr so when I buy them bulk for copper scrap values I need to check them all. There are still millions out there as people hung on to them when we changed in Feb 1966.
Any Aussie Pennies that have been dropped will have an even thicker burr so when I buy them bulk for copper scrap values I need to check them all. There are still millions out there as people hung on to them when we changed in Feb 1966.