The iconic first business strike half sovereigns struck at the Sydney Mint were dated 1855 and 1856. The 1855 is one of
the key Australian rarities with considerable Australian and international demand. It is estimated that 50 to 60 examples
survived the initial small
mintage
of 21,000 with most being heavily worn or otherwise damaged.
A total of seven examples were found in the Reserve Bank holdings, auctioned off by Downies in 2005
(Downies, 2005)
with very few examples appearing on the market since then with NumisBid auctioning off an example in 2016, PCGS graded
XF45 which realised AU$61,000
(Eigner, W, 2016)
and another example graded AU50 by PCGS being sold via private treaty that same year.
All 1855 Sydney mint Half Sovereigns bear a dot after the date which can be used as a diagnostic criteria for authenticating
examples of this rare issue.
Dot after the date on 1855 half sovereigns
Acquiring this issue in
mint state
is likely impossible with no known example surviving in such grades, the finest known examples tend to range around the
XF to low-AU levels and command strong prices due to limited supply.
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