1/2 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern

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.