Starting with Sydney in 1855, branch mints were established in Australia to produce Sovereigns near to new gold discoveries, rather than shipping the metal to London.

This Sovereign was struck at the Perth branch of The Royal Mint and has a distinctive P mint mark to denote this. The mint in Perth was the last of the three Australian branches of The Royal Mint to open in 1899, following the successful establishment of branch mints in Sydney (1855) and Melbourne (1872).

The Perth Mint was established to strike Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns for use throughout the British Empire and to also refine gold from the Western Australia gold rushes of the late 19th century.

George V Sovereign, 1916 P, Perth Mint, Australia

Obverse - Bare head left, B.M. on truncation, GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT: OMN: REX F.D. IND: IMP:, rev. The Latin legends translates on the obverse as "George the Fifth by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."

Reverse - St George slaying dragon with sword, WWP under lance, Mint letter P at centre of ground-line, date in exergue, B.P. to the upper right of the exergue.