1/2 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern

Obverse description	Left-facing laureate bust of Queen Victoria, her hair elaborately dressed with a wreath of laurel leaves and tied at the nape, engraved in high relief by Joseph Shepherd Wyon in the so-called 'young head' portrait style. The circular legend reads VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F:D: around the upper periphery, with the date 1855 positioned in the exergue below the truncation. The finely milled border frames the design, and the smooth field surrounding the effigy exhibits characteristic proof-like qualities typical of pattern coinage.
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Obverse lettering	VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F:D: 1855
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Additional information	Only a handful of pattern half sovereigns are known from Sydney Mint's 1855 trial strikes, produced as the colonial mint worked to establish its own coinage independent of London's oversight. The Royal Mint had initially resisted the idea of an Australian branch mint striking gold sovereigns at all, fearing quality control problems at the antipodean end of a very long supply chain. These patterns were part of the proof-of-capability exercise that ultimately convinced London to proceed. KM#Pn3 is among the rarest documented Sydney Mint pieces by surviving population.