Australian Veiled Head Sovereign Varieties 1893-1901
In a relatively recent discovery it was found that Australia's Veiled Head sovereigns were struck using two different obverse dies. The first obverse (generally referred to as a type 1) has the A of REGINA pointing at a rim denticle and the second obverse (generally referred to as type 2) has the A of REGINA pointing between rim denticles.
It remains unclear why a second obverse was created but obverse varieties exist in many other British coins of the same era so it is likely due to some design improvement in 1893 or 1894 - likely a change to improve die life.
| Year | Mintage | Type 1 | Type 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1893S | 1,346,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 1893M | 1,914,000 | Yes | No |
| 1894S | 3,067,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 1894M | 4,166,874 | Yes | No |
| 1895S | 2,758,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 1895M | 4,165,869 | Yes | Yes |
| 1896S | 2,544,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 1896M | 4,456,932 | Yes | Yes |
| 1897S | 2,532,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 1897M | 5,130,565 | Yes | Yes |
| 1898S | 2,458,000 | No | Yes |
| 1898M | 5,509,138 | No | Yes |
| 1899S | 3,259,000 | No | Yes |
| 1899M | 5,579,157 | No | Yes |
| 1899P | 690,992 | No | Yes |
| 1900S | 3,586,000 | No | Yes |
| 1900M | 4,305,904 | No | Yes |
| 1900P | 1,866,089 | No | Yes |
| 1901S | 3,012,000 | No | Yes |
| 1901M | 3,987,701 | No | Yes |
| 1901P | 2,889,333 | No | Yes |
The true mintage breakdowns will probably never be known but mintages were relatively high and many examples survive: Briggs' research found that for 1893S sovereigns the breakdown is 100% type 1/0% type 2 (though type 2 coins do exist); for 1894S sovereigns the breakdown is 14% type 1/86% type 2; for 1895S sovereigns the breakdown is 23% type 1/77% type 2; for 1895M sovereigns the breakdown is 0% type 1/100% type 2 (though type 1 coins do exist); for 1896S sovereigns the breakdown is 0% type 1/100% type 2 (though type 1 coins do exist); for 1896M sovereigns the breakdown is 15% type 1/85% type 2; for 1897S sovereigns the breakdown is 39% type 1/61% type 2 and for 1897M sovereigns the breakdown is 14% type 1/86% type 2 (the author's research shows the type 1 is around 30%) (p21, Briggs, Imperial Australian Sovereigns 1893-1901 Old or Veiled Head Major Update in Australasian Coin and Banknote Magazine, April 2020). Interestingly the Melbourne Mint did not begin using type 2 dies until 1895, and unsurprisingly the Perth Mint never used type 1 dies: do doubt they had all been used up by the time the Perth Mint opened. No usage of type 1 is known in 1898 or beyond.
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