Mints and Mint Marks - Sydney Mint
Synopsis
The Sydney branch mint in Australia issued Sydney mint sovereigns for The Royal Mint between 1855 and 1926.
Since 1855, gold sovereigns were struck at overseas branch mints, in addition to The Royal Mint in London. The first branch mint to strike sovereigns was Sydney, Australia in 1855.
If you are interested in the Sydney mintmarks you can discover more in our blog Mints and Mint Marks
Mint Marks
The mintmarks used by the various mints are as follows:-
| Mint | Mintmark | First | Last |
| London | None | 1817 | 1975 |
| Sydney | S | 1871 | 1926 |
| Melbourne | M | 1872 | 1931 |
| Perth | P | 1899 | 1931 |
| Ottawa | C | 1908 | 1919 |
| Bombay | I | 1918 | 1918 |
| Pretoria | SA | 1923 | 1932 |
Mintmarks
On shield sovereigns, the mintmarks are to be found on the reverse, in the space below the tie of the wreath.
On young head sovereigns with St. George and dragon reverse, the mintmarks are on the obverse, below the head.
On all other sovereigns, Victoria jubilee head, old head, Edward VII and George V, the mintmark can be found on the ground above the centre of the date. Many collectors find the mintmarks very difficult to find at their first attempt, but it really is quite easy once you know where to look. It helps of course to use a magnifying glass!
Our photographs show a 1924 Sydney Mint sovereign, and a close-up of the date and mintmark, and an 1885 shield, again with a close-up.
Sydney Mint, Australia
The Sydney Mint in Australia was the first of the branch mints to strike gold sovereigns, starting production in 1871, and continuing until 1926.
Many of these are scarce, some rare or extremely rare.
Dates Produced
Sydney Mint sovereigns were produced in the following years:-
Full List of Sovereigns Minted in Sydney
| Date | Mintage |
| 1871 | 2,814,400* |
| 1872 | 1,815,000* |
| 1873 | 1,478,000* |
| 1875 | 2,122,000* |
| 1877 | 1,590,000* |
| 1878 | 1,259,000* |
| 1879 | 1,366,000* |
| 1880 | 1,459,000* |
| 1881 | 1,360,000* |
| 1882 | 1,298,000* |
| 1883 | 1,108,000* |
| 1884 | 1,595,000* |
| 1885 | 1,486,000* |
| 1886 | 1,667,000* |
| 1887 | 1,000,000* |
| 1871 | See Shields |
| 1872 | See Shields |
| 1873 | See Shields |
| 1874 | 1,899,000 |
| 1875 | See Shields |
| 1876 | 1,613,000 |
| 1877 | See Shields |
| 1878 | See Shields |
| 1879 | See Shields |
| 1880 | See Shields |
| 1881 | See Shields |
| 1882 | See Shields |
| 1883 | See Shields |
| 1884 | See Shields |
| 1885 | See Shields |
| 1886 | See Shields |
| 1887 | See Shields |
| 1887 | 1,002,000 |
| 1888 | 2,187,000 |
| 1889 | 3,262,000 |
| 1890 | 2,808,000 |
| 1891 | 2,596,000 |
| 1892 | 3,837,000 |
| 1893 | 1,498,000 |
| 1893 | 1,346,000 |
| 1894 | 3,067,000 |
| 1895 | 2,758,000 |
| 1896 | 2,544,000 |
| 1897 | 2,532,000 |
| 1898 | 2,548,000 |
| 1899 | 3,259,000 |
| 1900 | 3,586,000 |
| 1901 | 3,012,000 |
| 1902 | 2,813,000 |
| 1903 | 2,806,000 |
| 1904 | 2,986,000 |
| 1905 | 2,778,000 |
| 1906 | 2,792,000 |
| 1907 | 2,539,000 |
| 1908 | 2,017,000 |
| 1909 | 2,057,000 |
| 1910 | 2,135,000 |
| 1911 | 2,519,000 |
| 1912 | 2,227,000 |
| 1913 | 2,249,000 |
| 1914 | 1,774,000 |
| 1915 | 1,346,000 |
| 1916 | 1,242,000 |
| 1917 | 1,666,000 |
| 1918 | 3,716,000 |
| 1919 | 1,835,000 |
| 1920 | 360,000 |
| 1921 | 839,000 |
| 1922 | 578,000 |
| 1923 | 416,000 |
| 1924 | 394,000 |
| 1925 | 5,632,000 |
| 1926 | 1,031,050 |
| Total | 116,704,050 |
Notes
* = Includes St. George Type
Rarity
The rarity of each date is not quite in proportion to the mintage figures. Many are thought to have been melted down, some dates being affected more than others.
For Sale
Rather than duplicate our listing of sovereigns for sale, we include the Canadian Mint sovereigns which we have for sale on their appropriate pages, being :-
More Information
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