Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) recently graded an 1860 Australian Port Phillip Pattern Shilling in silver. Known as one of the rarest and most coveted items in all Australian numismatics, the 1860 Australian Port Phillip Pattern Shilling carries a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria on the obverse and a reverse showcasing the denomination “ONE SHILLING” within a decorative border that encircles a prominent numeral “1”.
“This is the first example of an 1860 Australian Shilling pattern of this type that we have graded,” explained PCGS President Stephanie Sabin. “Similar pieces are known in other compositions, but this type is unique in silver. This underscores the trust that collectors and dealers alike place in our grading and encapsulation services. The best coins always end up in PCGS holders.”
Andrew Crellin with Sterling and Currency, the firm that submitted the coin, said that “there are other examples of this pattern known in copper, but this example is unique in silver.” There were multiple types of patterns that British medallist and engraver William Joseph Taylor designed for the Port Philip Kangaroo Office in 1855. While he prepared these designs for regular production, none of the coins were ever officially struck for circulation. By 1856, the Kangaroo Office had been shuttered and its staff sent back to England. But it wasn’t the end of the line for Taylor’s Australian pattern designs.
Belgian sculptor and engraver Charles Weiner, hailing from a family of skilled engravers and himself renowned in the trade, moved to London in 1860 and worked with Taylor. Weiner eventually earned a role as assistant engraver of the London Mint. Among his projects was creating new patterns, some of which he fashioned by pairing his obverse engravings with some of Taylor’s earlier reverse designs from the Australian shilling patterns.
The rarity of this silver pattern from 1860 has been well recognized by generations of numismatists, inspiring some of the most notable collectors in the hobby to pursue this treasure.
“The provenance of the item goes back to 1892,” explained Crellin. Ownership traces back to the Alfred E. Copp Collection, with the coin later residing in the cabinets of Richard Armstrong Hoblyn, John Gloag Murdoch, and Albert Henry Baldwin. The 1860 Australian Shilling silver pattern was previously in the Quartermaster Collection before being offered for sale by Sterling and Currency, which submitted the coin to PCGS for encapsulation.
For more information about submitting coins to PCGS for grading, please visit www.pcgs.com/services.
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