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Z - Australian Victoria Sovereigns 1855-1901

By Zebo

The Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) - House of Hanover Australian Victoria Sovereigns: 1855-1870 Australian Sovereign 1871-1887 Imperial Young Head Shield Reverse 1871-1887 St. George Reverse 1871-1887 1887-1893 Imperial Jubilee Head 1893-1901 Imperial Veil Head Melbourne Mint 1872-1901 Perth Mint 1899-1901 Sydney Mint 1855-1901 *Mints did not produce Sovereigns in every year of operation Trial of the Pyx http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/02/trial-of-the-pyx-royal-mint-video.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=&utm_content= The Sydney Branch Mint Millions of pounds of gold bullion were shipped from Australia to London each year to be minted into coin. However, it soon became apparent that it would be easier to refine the gold and turn it into coins at source, rather than transport it to Britain and have it turned into coins there. Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide each submitted to be the venue of a branch of the Royal Mint and after some deliberation the British government awarded it to Sydney, which began issuing coins in 1855. This mint issued coins with its own design from 1855 until 1870 then, in 1871 the Royal Mint insisted that all gold sovereigns regardless of Mint should carry the British design. The need for a Mint to produce coin in Australia and convert the local gold from the goldfields, without sending out of the country, finally came to fruition when an Order of Council was issued and ratified on 19 August 1853. Application and legislation to reach this point had been underway since at least 1851 and what with the escapades of Adelaide it became more apparent for the need that led to the Order of Council and building of a Mint in Sydney. Designs, dies and pattern coins were produced dated 1853. The Sydney mint opened 14 May 1855 and the first type design from the 1853 pattern was adopted for currency. The design of the Sydney Sovereigns was to be quite different from the Imperial British type, as the original intention was for them to be only legal tender within Australia. This changed with the Colonial Branch Mint Act of 1866, when they became legal tender in the UK and other colonies too, which led directly to the harmonisation of the Imperial type designs at the Sydney mint. The 1855-1868 yellow gold Sovereigns of the Sydney mint that were alloyed with silver were most popular in export trade with India, where they were more revered than the British Sovereign for their yellow colour, signifying the more valuable alloy with silver as opposed to the red gold colour of the British Sovereign alloyed with copper. This changed in 1868, the first step towards harmonisation of the types of denomination, when Sydney mixed copper in the alloy, rather than silver, making some of the 1868 dated issue and all for 1870 of the red gold colour. When the Sydney mint ceased minting gold Sovereigns in 1926, the total number of all Sovereigns struck of both Australia and Imperial types from 1855-1926 stood at 144,435,1926. Imperial Type Sovereigns in Australia With the very significant Coinage Act of 1870 in Great Britain came a sweeping change to harmonise the design of the coins minted from the Australian output of gold with that produced from the Royal Mint in London. The fact that the Australia design coins were legal tender only within Australia for their formative years had obviously affected export trade. The Colonial Branch Act of 1866 had made the Australia type coins legal tender in the UK and in trade, useful especially with closer neighbours in India and Asia. However the British Imperial gold Sovereign was already a respected trade coin with its shield reverse and more acceptable than the Australia type coins. The Melbourne Mint During the 1850s, Victoria alone contributed more than one-third of the world’s gold output. Although a Mint opened in Sydney in 1855, it had difficulty keeping pace with the output of the goldfields and in 1871 a new branch of the Royal Mint opened in Melbourne. Originally anticipated the new Melbourne mint would open as early as 1870. However, due to circumstances somewhat beyond controls, the mint opened late for operation, 12 June 1872. This tardiness was mostly because the ship Rangoon had sunk near Galle Harbour in Ceylon while carrying all the new 1871 dated dies from the mint in London. A very limited number of the dies were salvaged and these later came into use with the overdate 1872 over 1. By the end of 1872 nearly three quarters of a million sovereigns of the shield reverse had been produced, all with the mint letter M under the wreath on the reverse. St George reverse Sovereigns and gold Half Sovereigns were also introduced to production from 1873 with mint letter M, and both shield and St George reverse coins were produced in most years until 1887. The shield design was retained at the Australian branch mints only, as it was still the preferred coin in trade with India and Asia, and the St George reverse was preferred in England. The mints were given the choice of which to strike according to demand, which is why some years do not exist for certain reverse types. According to the publication Royal Sovereign, a Chinese General, Wong Yung Ho, visited the Melbourne mint in 1887 and confirmed that the shield design was preferred by the Indians when trading with the Orient. The Indians feared they would upset the Chinese if they paid for their wares with the St George reverse coin. This was because of the humiliating position of the Chinese national symbol the dragon under the horseman and therefore this reverse design was not generally seen in commerce in Asia. The Melbourne mint ceased minting Imperial type gold Sovereigns dated 1931, the total quantity of all Sovereigns at this branch mint stood at 147,282,731 pieces. This was the highest total of gold sovereigns from the three branch mints based in Australia. The Perth Mint Gold was first discovered in Western Australia in 1884 and gold mines became established at Kimberley in 1886. The gold mines at Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie quickly became recognised as two of Australia’s richest. The problems of transporting the raw gold over 2,100 miles to the nearest Mint in Melbourne were obvious and so a new branch of the Royal Mint was authorised and opened in 1899. The Colony in Western Australia had been granted Government in 1890, with John Forrest as the first Premier and Treasurer and it was he who was instrumental in establishing the Perth mint to follow suit with the Sydney and Melbourne branches. Permission was granted for a mint from London in 1894, as long as certain conditions were adhered to. The Perth mint Bill went through Assembly in July 1895. In 1897 and a renegotiation was necessary with a new completion date of 1 January 1898. A Proclamation for the new Mint was ratified by Queen Victoria 13 October 1897, that all gold coins to be struck would carry the mint letter P. However, as usual with all large building projects, there were some delays, and the Perth mint building was finally completed 17 October 1898. The mint was ready to go as of June 1899 and the very first Perth mint Sovereign was struck 20 June 1899. When the Perth mint ceased minting Imperial type gold Sovereigns dated 1931, the total quantity of all Sovereigns at this branch mint stood at 106,384,197 pieces. Read more...

Z - Australian Victoria Sovereigns 1855-1901

By Zebo

Owner Comments:

Gallery

NGC Expert Comments:

Australia began coining gold sovereigns to the British standard in 1855, those of the first 15 years having a unique reverse before the standard empire type was adopted in 1871. This collection brings together nearly all entries in the Australian series through the end of Victoria's reign. Each coin is NGC-certified and is accompanied by photos and text. The owner has also provided a particularly detailed history of Australia's sovereigns and the mints that coined them. The most significant entry is the 1857 sovereign coined by the Sydney Mint, but all of the coins have their stories to tell.

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