Lot 806

Description

Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint, established 1855, Queen Victoria Medal, in gold (41mm, 62g) by L.C.Wyon (C.V/7). Obverse with contact marks and edge bruise at 10 o'clock, otherwise good very fine and extremely rare.

Ex Dr John M.Chapman Collection, Noble Numismatics Sale 88 (lot 742) and Spink Australia Sale 1 (lot 434). Originally in Fred Baldwin's Collection and offered in the Glendinings auction in 1964 with a Royal Society Captain Cook Medal in Gold.

The Sydney Mint was opened in 1855 as the first Australian colonial branch of the Royal Mint. The reverse die of this medal continued to be used on special occasions until the close of the Mint in 1926. The Queen Victoria Medal may have been struck on special occasions other than to commemorate the establishment of the Mint.