2005 Australian Gold Sovereigns
History
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Australia's first sovereign, The Perth Mint has
meticulously re-crafted the distinctive 'colonial' reverse of the Sydney Mint Type 1
sovereign on this 2005-dated Australian legal tender gold coin.
The historic significance of this unique commemorative will not be lost on collectors aware
of the original coin's momentous impact on world coinage in 1855. Until then, London's
Royal Mint was the sole producer of legal tender for Britain and her vast Empire.
But the discovery of gold in New South Wales in 1851 set in motion a train of events that led
to the creation of the Royal Mint's first colonial branch. Empowered to produce sovereigns
from Australian gold, the Sydney Mint, together with its junior siblings in Melbourne and
Perth, went on to strike more than 400 million sovereigns prior to 1932.
The Perth Mint's tribute to the extremely rare Sydney Mint Type 1 sovereign is produced
from the same purity of gold as the 1855 coin. Its flawless proof finish, strictly limited
mintage and magnificent presentation packaging add further allure to this extremely
collectable release.
Mintage
The Perth Mint will release just 7,500 of these beautiful books with the 2005
Commemorative Sovereigns.
Design
Leonard Charles Wyon's historic Type 1 reverse, which depicts St Edward's crown and a
laurel wreath, is reproduced on the new sovereign. Like the original coin, it includes other
design elements that have long fascinated numismatists and historians. The inclusion of the
denomination ONE SOVEREIGN was a radical departure from the traditional Imperial
design. Likewise, the words SYDNEY MINT and AUSTRALIA had never been seen before
- the latter referring to a geographical concept of the 19th century rather than an independent
nation.
The coin's obverse bears the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
the denomination and the 2005 year-date.
Presentation
Each 2005 Commemorative Sovereign comes with the book Australia's Sovereigns. Written
by sovereign specialist Andrew Crellin, this invaluable historical reference provides
fascinating information about the many obverse and reverse designs that appeared on
sovereigns produced from Australian gold by the Sydney, Melbourne and Perth branches of
the Royal Mint between 1855 and 1931. Packed with illustrations and invaluable hints and
tips for collectors, it also incorporates a numbered Certificate of Authenticity and is
protected within a stylised outer sleeve.
New Design - Old Theme
We first saw the 2005 Australian gold sovereign in Basel Switzerland at the 2005 World Money Fair, and were immediately knocked out by the beautiful simplicity of the design, the re-creation of the original 1855 Sydney Mint sovereign, the first sovereign ever produced in Australia, and of course, the superb production quality we have come to expect from the Perth Mint.
Exact specifications will be identical to normal sovereigns.
We will keep this page updated as we receive fresh information, including issue limits.
Embargo Date
There was an embargo on further information until 13th April for the uncirculated bullion version, so we can now tell you the official release date, the embargo date on the proofs was 24th April 2005 for the proofs.
Full information is now available, please see below.
Release Date
The release date for the uncirculated bullion version was 21st April for the uncirculated bullion version. Our initial order was placed some time ago, and we expect to receive our first shipment of 500 pieces from Perth on or about the 22nd April.
As at Wednesday 20th April, we wished to increase our initial order from 500 to 1,250 pieces, but heard that only 150 pieces remained at Perth from the first production run, and the next production batch was due about 3rd May. It looks as though these are proving popular, and that the early demand has taken Perth Mint by surprise. The 150 pieces were shipped to us shortly after 21st April, but when they were half way around the globe, we were told that the Mint had sent its stock of proofs instead.
These have now arrived here, but we are not allowed to sell them before the release date! Meanwhile we are still waiting for our first shipment of the uncirculated version, which should now be shipped on 4th May, and arrive within a week.
We have yet to receive the boxes, certificates, and acoompanying books for the proofs.
Watch this space for more news.
Historic Prices
Checking our new edition of Krause's World Gold Coins, we see that the original 1855 coin catalogues at $7,500 (about £4,000) in Fine condition, and $90,000 (£50,000) in Uncirculated. There is no price for B.U., and we reckon a near perfect original may well cost £100,000 if one exists. This 2005 re-creation makes for a bargain priced addition to almost any collection.
Australian Sovereign Book
The Perth Mint have published a book for the 150th anniversary of the Australian sovereigns. A copy is available free with every proof sovereign.
Advance Order Prices
As UK Prime Distributors for the Perth Mint, we will be placing a large advance order for both proof and uncirculated sovereigns.
We will shortly be inviting advance orders at our advance order price for both the uncirculated (bullion) version, and the proof version.
The Royal Mint's prices for the 2005 British sovereigns are £139.95 for the proof version, and £84.95 for the uncirculated (bullion) version. We expect our prices for the new Australian coins to be no higher than these prices, for better coins!
Issue Limits
TBA
Prices and Availability - Uncirculated Version
Prices per coin. All prices are subject to gold bullion market price fluctuations.
Call to check availability |
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Proof Version - Available now for immediate delivery!
Prices per coin.
Call to check availability |
Share this fantastic deal with your friends
Proof Version - capsule only - no box or certificate - Available now for immediate delivery!
Prices per coin.
Call to check availability |
Share this fantastic deal with your friends
We believe the 2005 issue will be very popular!
Postage & Packing
Starting From...
UK Fully Insured £9, plus £1 per £1,000. (Usually by Royal Mail Special Delivery)
Airmail to USA $10
Insured to USA $20
See our Postage & Packing Information Page for more details.
Deliveries
We despatch most of our orders within 24 hours, although we do reserve the right to clear cheques before despatch. If your order is urgent for a gift, please tell us on the order form and we will do our best to help.
Notes
The fine gold content of a sovereign is 0.2354 troy ounces.
The Perth Mint Today
The Perth Mint is still very active today, even though it stopped striking British sovereigns in 1931. In fact nowadays it is one of the world's most active mints in both bullion and collectors coin, producing gold, silver, and platinum coins for its native Australia, and other countries.
As major bullion dealers, we are UK Prime Distributors for Perth Mint bullion coins including gold nuggets, gold Chinese lunar calendar coins, silver kookaburras, silver Chinese lunar calendar coins, and silver koalas.