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The Melbourne Mint

The Melbourne Mint was also a branch of the British Royal Mint. The closest mine was in Victoria where gold had recently been discovered. Gold sovereigns were struck at the Melbourne mint from 1872 until 1931.

Up until 1916 it only minted gold sovereigns and then went on to mint all of Australia's coins from 1927 until 1967. During it's inaugural year of 1872 the mint produced both the Shield design by J.B. Merlen and the St George and the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci - a total of 748,180 gold sovereigns. In the first full year of production the Melbourne Mint struck 752,199 gold sovereigns and 165,000 half sovereigns.

Total of all sovereign gold coins struck during these years in Melbourne - 148,211,120

The rarest date being 1925 (even though the mintage amount is very large) possibly due to many coins having been melted down. Coin production at The Melbourne Mint ceased in June 1968. If ou go to the public gallery in the Royal Australian Mint you can see one of the original coinage presses. Finally the present Queen, Elizabeth II, issued a proclamation on 29 May 1970 "where as it appears to us desirable that the establishment of the said branch Mint (Melbourne) should be discontinued".

How to Spot a Melbourne Mint Mark -

For Victoria Jubilee, Victoria Old Head, Edward VII and George V gold sovereigns look above the center of the date for the letter "M". Using a magnifying lens greatly improves the chances of finding the mark.

On the Victoria Young Head you may find the "M" on the obverse side at the base of Victoria's neck.