1 Sovereign - Victoria

The Sydney Mint sovereign series began not by design but by necessity. Gold from the New South Wales fields was arriving in such volumes after 1851 that shipping raw bullion to London for coining and returning it as currency was plainly unworkable. The Sydney Mint — converted from the Royal Mint's former branch inside the old Hyde Park Barracks — began striking in 1855, making these the first coins produced on Australian soil.

The 1855–1856 issues are distinguished from later Sydney sovereigns by their use of a different reverse die than the London standard, a deliberate deviation approved under Royal Warrant.