Whereas by an Order in Council, bearing date the 19th day of August 1853, Her Majesty thought fit to order that a branch of the Royal Mint should be established at or near Sydney, in New South Wales.
And whereas there was this day read at the Board a representation from Sir John Frederick William Herschel, Baronet, the Master of Her Majesty's Mint, dated the 25th day of August last, in the words viz., following
" In pursuance of Your Majesty's gracious commands, that dies for an Australian sovereign and half-sovereign (intended to be struck in the Branch of Your Majesty's Mint at Sydney, in New South Wales) should be prepared, according to a pattern which the Master of Your Majesty's Mint had the honour to submit for Your Majesty's approbation, I humbly beg to lay before Your Majesty a description of the impression intended to be struck on the said Australian sovereign and viz., half-sovereign
For the obverse of the sovereign, the effigy of Your Majesty, with the inscription ' Victoria D : G : Britannia : Regina F : D :' and the date of the year. For the reverse, the word ' Australia ' placed in the centre of the piece, encircled by a laurel wreath and surmounted by the Royal Crown, with the inscription ' Sydney Mint, One Sovereign,' and with a graining on the edge.
"And for the half-sovereign, the obverse in every respect similar to the sovereign ; and for the reverse, the same word ' Australia ' in the centre, encircled and surmounted in like manner, but for the inscription the words ' Sydney Mint, Half-Sovereign,' and a graining on the edge.
" Should it please Your Majesty to approve of the said impression to be struck on the Australian sovereign and half-sovereign, I humbly request Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to signify Your Majesty's commands thereon, that the coinage may be proceeded with as soon as the said Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint shall come into operation."
Her Majesty, having taken the said representation into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve of the therein described impression to be struck on the said Australian sovereign and half-sovereign. And the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.
Whereas there was this day read at the Board the draft of a Proclamation declaring the rates at which certain gold coins, to be called Australian sovereigns and half-sovereigns, intended to be struck at Her Majesty's branch of the Royal Mint at Sydney, in New South Wales, are to pass current in all Her Majesty's Colonies in Australia, New Zealand, and Van Diemen's Laud : Her Majesty, having taken the same into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve thereof, and to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the said Proclamation do take effect and come into force in each of Her Majesty's said Colonies and Possessions upon, and from and after, the promulgation thereof by the Governors or Officers administering the government of the said Colonies respectively. And the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and the Right Honourable Sir George Grey, Baronet, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, are to give the necessary directions therein accordingly.
WHEREAS by an Order in Council, bearing date the 19th day of August 1853 We have thought fit to Order that a Branch of Our Royal Mint should be established at or near Sydney, in New South Wales.
And whereas, in the 18th year of Our reign, by an Order in Council dated the 18th day of October 1854, We have thought fit to order that certain pieces' of gold money should be coined at the said branch of our Royal Mint, to be called respectively Australian sovereigns and Australian half- sovereigns, and to be of the same respective weights, fineness, and values with the sovereigns and half-sovereigns now current within this Our realm.
And whereas, pursuant to and in virtue of the powers given in Our said Orders in Council, it is provided that a coinage of the said Australian sovereigns and half-sovereigns shall be made, and that every such Australian sovereign shall have for the obverse the effigy of Her Majesty, with the inscription " Victoria D : G : Britannia : Regina F : D: " and the date of the year : and for the reverse, the word " Australia " placed in the centre of the piece, encircled by a laurel wreath and surmounted by the Royal Crown, with the inscription " Sydney Mint, One Sovereign,'' and with a graining on the edge. And that every such Australian half-sovereign shall have the obverse in every respect similar to that of the sovereign, and for the reverse, the same word " Australia " in the centre, encircled and surmounted in like manner, but for the Inscription the words" Sydney Mint, Half Sovereign", and a graining on the Edge. :
A history of Currency in the British Colonies
by Sir Robert Chalmers, Baron, (b. 1858.)
Published: 1893, London, UK. Full OCR text posted at
Archive.org.
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Coins of Lakdiva, Ceylon and Sri Lanka since 300 BCE.