ENQUIRE
ENQUIRE

Port Phillip, Kangaroo Office, Copper Fourpence circa 1854


Port Phillip, Kangaroo Office Copper Fourpence
Port Phillip, Kangaroo Office, Copper Fourpence circa 1854
COIN
Port Phillip, Kangaroo Office, Copper Fourpence circa 1854
PRICE
$ 37,500
STATUS
Sold November 2015
QUALITY
Uncirculated
PROVENANCE
Spink October 1977 and March 1990, Private Collection Sydney
COMMENTS
The owner of Australia’s first privately run mint, W J Taylor, quite literally etched his name into numismatic history by engraving his name onto the die that created this classic piece of currency. Struck circa 1854, this Port Phillip Kangaroo Office Fourpence is excessively rare: one of two known.
Enquire Now

The design of this Port Phillip Kangaroo Office coin features the words FOUR PENCE embedded in a plain broad raised rim with a large figure ‘4’ on a trellised base. The reverse features a seated Britannia and a steamer in the distance with the word AUSTRALIA and W J TAYLOR on the base.

The Kangaroo Office was a bold plan by English entrepreneurs to establish Australia’s first privately run Mint. The planning phase began in London, in 1853. Coining operations commenced in Melbourne in May 1854. Three years on, after substantial losses, the mint was closed. While the plan had all the hallmarks of a farce, it left an important legacy for today’s collectors and historians.

The Port Phillip Kangaroo Office coins have been owned by some of the greatest collectors of our time: Montague, King Farouk of Egypt, J J Pitman and Tom Hadley. They are revered by collectors and investors in Australia. And right across the globe.

The coins come with more than a century of auction history, the most recent being the Quartermaster Auction in 2009. Their solid price history is an affirmation of their scarcity and overwhelming popularity.

The Quartermaster Auction presented the greatest EVER offering of Port Phillip Kangaroo Patterns at an Australian public auction. Seventeen pieces in total sold for $1,678,300 against an estimate of $1,623,000 with at least five of them setting new world record prices.

These results need to be considered against the backdrop of the entire auction for the Kangaroo Patterns were offered as lot 3 to 19 out of a 308 lot auction, so in the earliest stages of the auction proceedings. Anyone that has attended an auction like this will tell you that bidding can be quite hesitant and tentative in the early stages of a 308 lot auction as bidders face an onslaught of high value alternatives that would have consumed their dollars.

That the bidding exceeded the estimates is a reflection on the rarity and calibre of the product.

For more information on the Taylor Patterns click here.


CONTACT US
COINWORKS SERVICES
MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND COINWORKS
CONTACT

PO Box 1060 Hawksburn Victoria Australia 3142

© Copyright: Coinworks 

BE INFORMED

Discover new coins and collections added weekly.
Please provide your first name
Please provide your last name
You must provide an email address
I am not a robot is required