 Victoria, 1837-1901. Pattern Palladium Half Sovereign, 1869. 19.1mm, 2.3 grams (35.5 grains), Reeded edge. Young head of Queen Victoria l. from the currency Half Sovereign but wholly anepigraphic. Rv. Legend PALLADIUM - HYDROGENIUM * 1869 * around GRAHAM, for Thomas Graham, a high officer of the Royal Mint who is also recalled for his initials TG on the Copper coins of Hong Kong.
This extraordinary Pattern is discussed at length in Leonard Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, II:308. This specimen was lot 1829 in the H. Montagu Collection, Volume II, sold by Spink and Son in October 1890, illustrated and described as follows, ''Pattern Half-Sovereign or Trial Piece, struck in Palladium-Hydrogen, 1869, by Mr. Graham, then Master of the Mint; obverse head of the Queen, as on the current Half-Sovereign; no legend or date; reverse, PALLADIUM-HYDROGENIUM; the name GRAHAM in the centre between two lines; date, 1869, below; six-pointed star on either side; edge plain.'' This extraordinary piece is said to contain 900 times its volume in hydrogen. Weight, 34.5 grains. Probably unique.''
The Montagu coin reappeared as part of lot 542A of the John G. Murdoch Collection, Part 3 (Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, March 14-19. 1904). Joining it were two Platinum pattern Sovereigns and a Platinum Half Sovereign. Graham was famous in his day for his experiments with Palladium, and is mentioned in Albert R. Frey's Dictionary of Numismatic Names, ''An attempt has been made to utilize this rare element for medallic purposes. A communication to the Revue Belge de Numismatique, 1869 (p. 477), states that Sir Thomas Graham, Comptroller of the English Mint, struck a medal of palladium alloyed with gold, silver, or nickel.'' While unquestionably Mint State, this fascinating coin displays oddly uneven surfaces, with some suggestions of faint lines, presumably the result of the first attempts to work with this exotic precious metal. Palladium was to reappear sporadically in the 20th century for a very few collector coins from Tonga, Russia and Bermuda. The Montagu cataloguer believed the coin to be unique, but it is possible that three examples may exist. Brilliant Uncirculated. (Est. $5,000-$7,500)
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