Value of Rare Gold Coins continues to
increase dramatically.
I
sincerely believe this coins is going to be worth $1,000,000.
Hi,
I'm Bill Youngerman, Owner of William Youngerman, Inc., established 1967
I'm
not only a rare gold coin dealer, but a serious Rare Gold Coin Collector.
At the present time I have one of the premier Reare World Gold Coin Collections
in the Americas. I'm always in the market to buy or sell Rare World Gold Coins.
Here's an example of one of very rare world gold coins that I have purchased
for my World Gold Coin Collection.
The King Farouk Specimen
of the 1854/3 Port Phillip Gold Two Ounce Piece
This
piece is also known as a Taylor Pattern, or Kangaroo Office Pattern.
This
piece is also known as a Taylor Pattern, or Kangaroo Office Pattern.
In the
late 18th, and early 19th, centuries, Australia was a British Penal Colony and
was considered the prime dumping ground for hardened criminals from an England
plagued by crime.
There would soon be a major change in attitude toward
travel to Australia, brought about by the discovery of gold in New South Wales
and Victoria. People from around the world were selling all their possessions
taking their life savings and booking passage to Australia in hopes of striking
it rich in the gold fields.
As more and more fortune hunters flooded into
the Australian outback, it became evident that gold nuggets and dust were not
adequate means of exchange for ordinary commerce. It was obvious that some type
of coinage was necessary for business transactions to take place in an orderly
fashion.
A group of businessmen approached the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir
Henry Young, with a request to start a mint and produce some type of coins from
the raw gold coming from the gold fields. It was decided that ingots, not coins,
would be produced. Thousands of ingots were produced and few have survived. The
gold ingots were not well received and everyone, banks and public, demanded a
type of gold coinage.
In 1852, the Bullion Act was amended to allow the
striking of one, two and five pound issues as well as ten shilling gold pieces.
In 1852 the Adelaide Pound was struck, and the first effort failed miserably when
the die lasted only long enough to strike 20 or 30 coins. The second effort was
more successful and 25,000 pieces of the Type Two Adelaide Pound were produced.
Of these 25,000, few have survived and high-grade examples are very rare.
The
Port Phillip Kangaroo Office Mint was a private enterprise concerned with striking
coins for profit. The coins were eventually produced, but the profits never appeared.
At about the same time people in London were being told that the new Adelaide
coins contained 10 percent more gold than their face value, there came fresh news
that gold was being bought direct from the miners at the Ballarat gold fields
for 2 Pounds, 15 Shillings per ounce.
With the official value being pegged
at 4 Pounds per ounce, it occurred to London diesinker and engraver William Joseph
Taylor that there were still severe shortages of gold coins in Victoria. The firm
of Hodgkin, Taylor and Tyndall proposed to set up a mint in Melbourne by buying
gold at 2 Pounds, 15 Shillings per ounce and turning it into 4 Pounds per ounce
gold coins.
In 1851, Taylor had exhibited a coining press at the Great
Exhibition and for his latest adventure had no trouble finding wealthy backers
to provide him with a fully supplied ship for his trip to Melbourne. Sailing on
a chartered vessel, the Kangaroo, Taylor arrived on 23rd October, 1853.
Here,
the problems which would ultimately doom the project to failure struck. The wharves
at Melbourne had no facilities for moving the press dockside in one piece. Many
months were lost as the press was stripped down to be moved.
In the meantime,
a large shipment of gold sovereigns arrived from London and the price of gold
increased to near the official rate. Dies to strike 1/4 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1 ounce
and 2 ounce gold coins had accompanied the team from London and with the new price
of gold these were now useless.
In spite of this set back, Taylor opened
the Kangaroo office in May of 1854, hoping that his minting facility would be
chosen to produce official gold coins, although it was almost eight months before
the press was reassembled. The Port Phillip Kangaroo Office struck gold issues
of two (8 Pounds), one (4 Pounds), half (2 Pounds) and quarter (1 Pound) ounces
dated 1853. All issues are extremely rare. Taylor then exhibited the press at
the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition in an attempt to attract a new trade striking tokens
and medals. When this failed, Taylor and his backers admitted defeat. The press
was sold and orders were given for the dies to be tossed into Port Phillip Bay.
This was not done, however, and the dies for the 1/4 ounce and 1 ounce were later
found by Stokes & Sons in Melbourne, to whom the original press had been sold.
Now operating as Stokes (Australasia) Limited, this firm has been responsible
for a number of restrikes in lead for the Numismatic Society of Victoria. It is
evident that Taylor also struck several trial pieces from each of the dies. The
British Museum has a complete set in gold, purchased in 1862 from Mr. Morgan Brown
who was involved in the minting of the coins in Melbourne, Australia, while the
Royal Australian Mint has a set of gold-colored gilt copper restrikes.
One,
Half, and Quarter Ounces were sold in the Montague Colonial Auction at Sotheby's
in 1903 and again sold at the Murdoch sale at Sotheby's in 1903. The Murdoch sale
also included some fresh Two Ounce pieces (two 1853 Gold and two 1854 in Gold,
copper). It was reported at the time that these Two Ounce pieces were undoubtedly
all recent strikings.... struck in gold alloyed with copper, instead of with silver.
According to Jim Noble this piece was made for a collector like J.D. Murdoch
in 1898, and was later sold as lot # 608 in the Murdoch sale, sold by Sotheby's
in London from 1903-1905, where it fetched the lofty sum of 30 Pounds. Thus, this
is one of the aforementioned Murdoch coins. It next surfaced in the Palace Collection
of Egypt, sold by Sotheby's and Co., February 24- 28 and March 3-7, 1954, as lot
843, where it was described, "Australia, Port Philip, two ounces, 1854. Only
three known, brilliant; in the cataloguer's opinion this was made around 1898.
As opposed to the set in the British Museum, this piece has a 4 engraved over
the 3 making the date 1854/3. The reasoning behind this is unclear. There is speculation
as to whether this is struck from original dies, or from dies made specifically
for Murdoch.
Value of Rare Gold Coins ....
It
is my opinion that the date was re-engraved on the original die to 1854 due to
the late opening of the mint in 1854. All research at this time tends to make
me believe that this may be the only surviving example outside of a museum. As
such it ranks, in my opinion as the most important Australian coin and one of
the most significant rare gold coins in the world.
This piece is struck
as a Proof with a reeded edge and shows some light hair lining of the Proof surfaces.
The obverse has PORT PHILLIP AUSTRALIA inscribed incused on a raised, engine-
turned rim, in the center is a Kangaroo to right with date below, the reverse
has PURE AUSTRALIAN GOLD TWO OUNCES inscribed incused on a raised engine-turned
rim, in the center the figure 2, with TWO OUNCES inscribed, incused.
Catering
to Serious World Gold Coin Collectors who know the value of rare gold coins.
