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Port Phillip Kangaroo Office Coins |
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See the Gold Rush article for more information.
Notes:William Taylor must have believed that there was a chance that a separate Port Phillip Mint would be built not only to strike gold coins, but also circulation silver. In 1855 he prepared dies in London for a pattern shilling and sixpence. The patterns were struck in various metals and had milled edges. Later restrikes had a plain edge.Some years later (around or after 1860), Taylor produced another version of the pattern shilling. It is believed that silver and copper pieces were submitted to the Royal Mint, for whom he made a number of parttern coins later in his career. No one is sure exactly how many Port Phillip pieces remain in existence. What actually occurred during the 3 years that the Kangaroo Office operated is unclear and mainly conjecture. When he finally gave up and sold his equipment to Thomas Stokes, Taylor is believed to have ordered Morgan Brown to take the dies for the gold pieces and sink them out in the bay in deep water. The evidence that this was not done was uncovered when the dies turned up in the Stokes & Sons factory in the early 1900's. In 1917, the company struck lead replicas of all 4 gold pieces for the Numismatic Society of Victoria. Forgeries of all denominations in the above table have been reported. See the separate article. The Perth Mint celebrated the 140th anniversary of the release of the Kangaroo Office gold pieces by issuing a privy marked 2oz silver bullion kookaburra coin in 1993.
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