Pauline Conolly

On Christmas Eve 1925, Evelyn Hobson told her parents and siblings that she was going on holiday for a few days to Manly, a favourite destination for Sydneysiders. Christmas Eve seems an odd time to choose, but Evelyn was 27 years old and gainfully employed as a...

Written by British born Australian writer Maggie Joel, The Second-Last Woman in England is a novel centred on class, snobbery and hypocrisy in post war England as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth looms. It was published in 2010. Unusually,  the prologue reveals that as the royal family...

Did you ever wonder when the elusive 1930 Australian penny became so sought after?  For some reason it wasn’t immediately valuable, even though very few were struck due to the Great Depression and the cancellation  of orders from the Commonwealth Government. However, it is thought that 1,000...

Fifty sent pieces were introduced in Australia and New Zealand with the advent of decimal currency. The 1966 Australian coins were round and had a high silver content (80%).  Within twelve months the silver price had risen  substantially and the coins were suddenly worth more than their...