Australia. Sovereign, 1856 (Sydney). Fr-9; KM-2. Victoria. Filleted young head left. Reverse ; Crown above AUSTRALIA within wreath. Two year type. Rare in top grades. PCGS: SS Central America Pop 1, none finer; Regular: Pop 4; 2 finer, 1 in 58+, 1 in 62. PCGS graded AU-58. In special PCGS Ship of Gold holder which contains One Pinch of Gold Dust recovered from the S.S. Central America treasure.
Special PCGS number 670836.58/34510972. Estimated Value $12,500 - UP
The 1856 Australian gold sovereign was struck in the second year of operation of the Sydney mint, which saw production almost double what it had been in 1855. Nevertheless, high grade sovereigns of 1856 are now at least as rare as the initial 1855 issue. The 1856 sovereign is notable as the last issue struck by the Sydney mint before the portrait of Queen Victoria was redesigned with some extra local flavor. Whereas the 1855-1856 portrait (Type 1) is closely modeled on British prototypes, in 1857 a new portrait (Type 2) was introduced which included a sprig of banksia (a wildflower indigenous to Australia) in the queen's hair. This modification was overlooked by the British Government until 1871, when approval for the design was revoked and the Sydney mint reverted to the more traditional British portrait type.

The year 1856 was pivotal for the development of democratic institutions in the colonies of Australia, which served as a precursor to the political changes and movements resulting in the Federation of Australia in 1901. In this year, Tasmania (7 February), Victoria (19 March), and New South Wales (2 April) all introduced new laws requiring the use of the secret ballot for elections. This was a dramatic political development considering that the only modern state to adopt the secret ballot previously had been Revolutionary France in 1795 (reaffirmed in the republican constitution of 1848). The institution of the secret ballot by these Australian colonies was so remarkable for the period that when the system was adopted by the individual states of the United States over the course of 1884-1891 it was widely known as the "Australian Ballot."

At the same time that the colonies of Australia were beginning to chart their future as democratic responsible governments, in 1856 the unsavory penal history of Australia began to be erased. After the transportation of convicts to New South Wales was suspended in 1824, Van Diemen's Land became the primary Australian penal colony-a dubious status that it retained until 1853, when convicts ceased to be transported there as part of their sentence. With an end to criminal transportation, Van Diemen's Land became a Crown colony, but its inhabitants (known in Australia as "Vandemonians") suffered discrimination as a result of the penal past. Following a successful petition to the British Government, in 1856 Van Diemen's Land was renamed Tasmania in an attempt to remove the stigma of the old penal colony. In 1642 Van Diemen's Land had been named in honor of Antonio van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1636-1645), but in 1856 it was renamed Tasmania in honor of Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer who became the first European to land on the island (1642).