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Pattern - Victoria 1/2 Sovereign
| Issuer | Sydney Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.98 g |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped young effigy of Queen Victoria facing left, her hair elaborately dressed and bound with a laurel wreath, with curled locks falling to the nape of the neck. The portrait, engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon, is rendered in high relief with fine artistic detail. The surrounding legend reads VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F:D:, separated by raised dots, with the date 1856 positioned in the exergue below the bust. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Sydney Mint |
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| Additional information |
The Sydney Mint opened in 1855 as the first branch of the Royal Mint established outside Britain, purpose-built to process the flood of gold coming out of the New South Wales goldfields. This piece dates to its second year of operation, when the mint was still working through questions of what a specifically Australian coinage should look like and whether subsidiary denominations were viable given local commerce's preference for larger values. The half sovereign pattern was never adopted for circulation — full sovereigns dominated Sydney Mint output throughout the Victorian period.