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Melbourne Mint
Image: Photograph - Royal Mint Building, Melbourne, circa 1890
Source: Museum Victoria
The Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint began operation on 12 June 1872. It was the second branch to be opened in Australia, the Sydney Branch having opened in 1855.
The Melbourne Mint had two main functions: purifying and assaying gold and striking gold coins. A minor function was the production of medals, particularly prize medals such as those awarded by agricultural societies or exhibition authorities.
The Melbourne Mint was financed entirely by the government of the Colony (later State) of Victoria. However, its employees were British civil servants and could, and did, apply for jobs in other branches of the Royal Mint; there was a particularly large movement of staff when the Ottawa branch opened in 1908.
In 1916 the Melbourne Mint was the first Australian mint to undertake production of silver coins for the Australian Commonwealth, in 1919 it began production of bronze coins and in 1964 it was the first Australian mint to strike decimal currency.
All work on Commonwealth of Australia coinage was undertaken by the mint as a contractor to the Treasury. With the opening of the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra in 1965, once the immense task of preparing the first years of decimal coins had been achieved, no further contracts were available, nor was there sufficient call for purifying and assaying gold. By Royal Proclamation the Melbourne Mint ceased to be a Branch of the Royal Mint on 1 July 1970.
References
The Annual Reports of the Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint were published as appendices to the Royal Mint Annual Reports from 1872 to 1970
Records of the Melbourne Mint are held by the Public Record Office Victoria
Alston Pearl, S. (1941). 'Melbourne's Royal Mint', Walkabout, 1 March, 9-12.
Batchelor, Patricia (1977). 'Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint (William-Street)', Australian Numismatist. Vol 31, No.2, 3-4
Kenyon, A.S. (1935). 'The Royal Mint and Its Australian Branches' , Vic. Hist. Mag. May
Ward, E.W. Chrystos (1874). 'The Melbourne Mint' Argus, 5 November 1874.
Webb, L.A. (1958). 'The Victorian Mint', Australian Numismatic Journal (S.A. Numismatic Society), Vol.9, No.3.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 1536 items
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Coin - Penny, Australia, 1940
Coin - Penny, Australia, 1940. Mint: Melbourne. Found under floorboards of one of the oldest 1880s buildings at a mental health hospital, Caloola Training Centre, Sunbury, Victoria, Aus ...
From: Sunbury, Australia Images: 1 -
Token - Halfpenny, Hanks & Lloyd, Australian Tea Mart, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, ...
Copper Halfpenny Token, minted by W.J. Taylor, London. Issued by Hanks & Lloyd, Australian Tea Mart, Sydney, 1857. J.G. Hanks joined A. Lloyd to open a business in 1855. The same year H ...
From: Sydney, Australia Images: 2 -
Token - 1 Penny, Professor Holloway's, Pills & Ointment, London, England, Great Britain, 1 ...
Copper One Penny Token minted by J. Moore of Birmingham. Issued to promote Professor Holloway's pills and ointments in 1857. Holloway tokens are presumed to have been circulated worldwi ...
From: London, United Kingdom Images: 2 -
Token - Halfpenny, Joseph Lane & Son, Birmingham, England, Great Britain, circa 1855
Australia Joseph Lane & Son Token Halfpenny c. 1855 (AD) Mint: Unknown British Standard References: Andrews 673 = Heyde Related 46
From: Birmingham, United Kingdom Images: 2 -
Token - Threepence, Hogarth, Erichsen & Co, Jewellers, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, ...
Australia New South Wales Sydney Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. Token Threepence 1858 (AD) Mint: see References Standard references: Andrews 690 = Heyde 116/2
From: Sydney, Australia Images: 2 -
Token - 1 Penny, Davies, Alexander & Co, Australian Store, Goulburn, New South Wales, Aust ...
Copper one Penny Token, minted by an unknown Bristish mint. Issued by Davies, Alexander & Co., of the Australian Store, Goulburn, New South Wales.
From: Goulburn, Australia Images: 2 -
Trial Token - Threepence, Hogarth, Erichsen & Co, Jewellers, Sydney, New South Wales, Aust ...
Australia New South Wales Sydney Hogarth & Erichsen Token Threepence 1860 (AD) struck over a French 1 franc coin of Louis XVIII Mint: see References Standard references: Andrews 691 = ...
From: Sydney, Australia Images: 2 -
Stamp - Royal Mint, Gold Coin Bags, Early 20th Century
Copper stamp for stamping gold coin bags from Royal Mint. Melbourne. Stamps 'Royal Mint Melbourne' and coat of arms.
Images: 1 -
Medal - Portrait of Zelma Gartner, Andor Mészáros, Australia, 1964 (Bushfire Affected)
Bronze portrait medal of Zelma Gartner, designed by Andor Mészáros and minted in 1964. It was found in the ruins of John and Zelma's home in Mt Macedon after the Ash Wednesday bushfires ...
Images: 2 -
Token - Halfpenny, J.C. Thornthwaite, Die Sinker & Medallist, Surry Hills, New South Wales ...
Copper Halfpenny Token, minted and issued by J.C. Thornthwaite of New South Wales, in 1854. Thornthwaite was the first person to manufacture tokens and medals in Australia. Migrating to ...
From: Surry Hills, Australia Images: 2
