The Kangaroo Office. Fact Or Fantasy?

Coinworks on Kangaroo Office pieces

The coins struck at Melbourne's 'Kangaroo Office' in the 1850s have been owned by some of the greatest collectors of our time; Montague, King Farouk of Egypt, J J Pitman and Quartermaster to name but a few.

(COMMENT: And these famous collectors all only showed interest after the 1864 Vaux elevation of the pieces from mementos of the Exhibition to pattern coins for national coinage. If Vaux says nothing then how much interest do such collectors have in bullion rounds from a failed store in Melbourne in 1854?)

The Kangaroo Office was a bold plan by English entrepreneurs to establish Australia's first privately run Mint. The planning phase began in London, in 1853. Coining operations commenced in Melbourne in May 1854. Three years on, after substantial losses, the mint was closed. While the plan had all the hallmarks of a farce, it left an important legacy for today's collectors and historians.

(COMMENT: If this was the plan then why did the 3 Messrs lease the press to a third party and sign away 1/3rd of the profits leaving each as a minority beneficiary? The Mint, actually an exhibition screw press, 'closed' early April 1855, i.e. less than one year after opening. The claim of substantial losses is unqualified)

William Joseph Taylor was an Englishman, and by trade an engraver and die sinker, active in the numismatic industry producing both coins and medals. He was an entrepreneur. And a shrewd businessman.
Towards the end of 1852 Taylor became aware that gold could be bought from diggers on the Ballarat fields at greatly reduced prices. His plan was to establish a private mint in Melbourne, strike gold coins and release them at their full value in London. To thwart currency laws, the designs were made to look more like weights than coins. Taylor himself cut the dies for a 2oz, 1oz, 1/2oz and ¼oz gold piece, each dated 1853.

(COMMENT: The "end of 1852" claim seems to have its origin in Roth's 1895 piece in the Queenslander and at that time, end of '52, as well are all sick of hearing, the gold price was stable around 70s. The old "his plan" allegation goes down in flames once one reads the Indenture where we see "his plan" turned out to be to become a 1/3rd owner of a leased press and a 2/9th beneficiary should the gold business go well)

Taylor formed a syndicate with two colleagues, Messrs Hodgkin and Tyndall: the three investing £13,000 in the enterprise. They chartered a fully rigged 600 ton vessel to transport the coining press, the dies and two employees, Reginald Scaife (manager) and William Morgan Brown (assistant).

(COMMENT: who formed a syndicate with who seems to be highly debatable? I seriously doubt Taylor came up with the Kangaroo venture and the Kangaroo Office is all about Hodgkin's son in law. Taylor seems to be the least likely to have been the ideas man behind the venture. For £13,000 they buy, not charter, the Kangaroo)

The vessel was aptly named 'The Kangaroo', then, as now, a symbol of Australia. Taylor's mint was known as the Kangaroo Office and was situated near Melbourne's Flagstaff Gardens in what is now Franklin Street West.
'The Kangaroo' arrived at Hobsons Bay on 23rd October 1853, and the huge coining press was deposited on the wharf. And there it sat. Unfortunately, it was too heavy to transport. The only option was to take it apart and move it, piece-by-piece, to the Kangaroo Office, where it was reassembled and put into working order.

(COMMENT: According to the Argus, who had their finger on the pulse of daily "Shipping Intelligence", the Kangaroo arrives on the 25th. In previous posts there are pictures of this "too heavy" press and I leave it to the reader to judge the movability of it. If it sits on the wharf then it is most likely because it has no where to go. An 1850's pre fab store is not like a modern throw tent. It takes time to find a site and assemble. It takes extra time in a town where most able men have run off to the diggings.)

The Kangaroo Office eventually commenced operations in May 1854.

(COMMENT: Most likely June/July according to Sharples)

The coins were struck in gold and featured a heavy broad engine-turned rim with a squatting kangaroo facing right and in sunken letters on the rim the words PORT PHILLIP AND AUSTRALIA.
The reverse depicted the weight of each piece in figures with the words PURE AUSTRALIAN GOLD above and the weight in letters embedded into the rim. Again the emphasis was on the weight rather than a value so as not to be construed as a 'coin'.

(COMMENT: Not a coin and also not a token by standard definitions. A bullion round or medal are the most apt descriptions)

The Kangaroo Office operated for three years striking examples from the original dies, although how many of each is unknown.

(COMMENT: Actually the press was out of action by early April 1855 and Scaife at that point thinks it is being shipped home.)

We do know that William Morgan sold a complete set of the four kangaroo patterns to the British Museum and was said to have informed the museum staff that a total of 27 sets were struck, of which all but one had been melted down. Reginald Scaife also told Sydney numismatist Dr Walter Roth that only one set had been issued in Melbourne. This set was displayed at the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition but what happened to it after that is unknown.

......

Taylor operated his Kangaroo Office for three years during which time he sustained substantial losses. With all hope of a profit gone, the dispirited promoters in London issued instructions for the Kangaroo Office to be closed.

(COMMENT: "His Kangaroo Office" ... "he sustained" ?"
It wasn't "his Kangaroo Office " and his investment in the Office itself was likely rather small. The narrative has all the trademarks of the usual Taylor this, Taylor that, narrative that was completely debunked in 2005 by Sharples who found the Indenture of Scaife.)

I don't know enough to offer advice except extreme buyer beware,apparently there are copies of Gee's work out there.