By: JJ G

With an asking price of about $750,000, an Australian Type 1 Pound coin from 1852 is for sale at Melbourne’s coin works!

This coin is 170 years old and was made on September 23, 1852, at Government Assay Office in Adelaide. When the coin was made there were about fifty other Type 1 Pound coins, but now there are fewer than 40 examples. Most of these coins are kept by collectors.

This coin was once owned by a French collector named Ferrary; his collection was a very large collection of stamps. However, his collection was sold later by the French Government after World War I as war reparations.

Director Belinda Downie said that another 24,00 of these gold coins were made but they were soon to be found worth more because their monetary face value and gold. So they were shipped to London to be melted down, and only 240 of these exist now. Downie said that the coin is being offered for sale for the first time since 2009 and is in a “virtually mint state”. The design of the Nobleman Gold One Pound confirms it was minted.

As the coin’s track record shows, it is proven to be an astute investment over time. Whoever buys the coins is buying a coin of Australian history that dates to 1852, the coin is most likely a rewarding investment moving forward.