Set Description
One example for each year, from any mint
Set Goals
Complete set 1817 to date. Total of 175 dates as of 2023. Have 109 = 62%.
I started collecting gold sovereigns in Jan 2022, so the set is just getting started. A few of the rarer years will not be obtainable on my limited budget, but I hope to acquire as many as possible.
In every case, my main objective is to obtain coins with great "eye appeal". Not looking for the highest grade, but rather the nicest looking example that I can find for each year. Since most MS60 to MS62 coins are heavily "bag-marked", I will generally seek out nicer looking AU coins for my collection.
A separate sub-goal is to collect all of the 1979 to 2022 coins in Proof condition. Since only a few thousand were struck each year, that is going to take a while! So this is a long-term project.
Thanks for looking! Enjoy your hobby!
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| 1820 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1820 G.britain
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NGC AU 55
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S-3785C, Marsh 4 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3099, Lot 31931
Date: 7 May 2022
Critique: The very first "early" sovereign that I acquired. Not a very high grade, but an absolutely beautiful example of this date. Eye appeal is the main factor in my purchasing decisions, not grade. That tends to hurt me in competition, since I pass up a large number of mint state coins that are completely lacking eye appeal. Sometimes it's painful to make that decision, but I'm a firm believer in what Q. David Bowers always says, "Buy the coin, NOT the holder!"
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| 1821 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1821 G.britain
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NGC MS 61
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S-3800, Marsh 5
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3099, Lot 31938
Date: 7 May 2022
Critique: Sometimes I run into a coin that is rather expensive since it's in a major auction and has great eye appeal. Generally, someone else wants it more than I do, and I abandon the chase. But sometimes I end up on top, and this is one of those cases.
I really love the Laureate Head George IV sovs minted 1821 to 1825, because they have the most beautiful design for letters and numerals. Each one is extremely ornate and intricate, with sets of beads imbedded. Quite a lovely feature, but I imagine these fancy characters were very difficult and time-consuming to engrave. Since they can't be seen with the naked eye, when the new Bare Head effigy of George debuted in the latter part of 1825 these wonderful designs were abandoned in favor of the usual plain characters. Such a shame to lose this artistic flourish.
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| 1822 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1822 G.britain
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NGC XF 45
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S-3800, Marsh 6
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232219, Lot 62547
Date: 12 May 2022
Critique: A very interesting coin. A quick check of the George IV set and the GB date set shows that as of 07/2022 this is the only 1822 sovereign registered for competition! Hard to believe, since it's not rare at all. Plus this is the coin's 200th anniversary which I would have thought would make it more sought-after.
The second A of Britanniar is strangely cut, apparently on purpose by the engraver. The left leg is about four times thicker than on a normal letter A, and no crossbar is obvious, although grime could be obscuring it. This letter actually looks very much like an inverted V, although the letter V would not be introduced in this series until the Bare Head version of George appeared in the latter part of 1825. There are many examples of sovereign dates in which an inverted letter A was substituted for V, or where the crossbar of letter A is missing which makes the letter seem like an inverted V. But I’m not aware of any reports of this being found on an 1822 sovereign. The left leg of this letter does not seem to be wide due to wear damage on the die, since the two sides of the leg look perfectly parallel as if deliberately engraved. Also, this letter does not show any evidence of re-punching several times which might tend to widen the left leg, since the right leg looks to be normal width.
As far as I know, no letter V in this ornate style of 1821 to early 1825 is known to exist. I'm wondering if perhaps this was an experimental die punch, with the possible intention of replacing IIII with IV a few years earlier than actually occurred, but they decided against that. It's possible that perhaps the mint tested the punch out on a few coins (like this one) just to see how it worked, or perhaps they just tossed it in with the other regular punches, and when the normal A punch wore out they substituted an inverted V.
Another possibility is that when a new font set is initially designed, the engraver produces a master set of punches that includes one of each numeral and letter of the alphabet. Although each punch is not currently required, they are always available in the future if the need arises. In this case, if the letter A punch happened to break at an inconvenient time during coin production, perhaps the mint director allowed the inverted and heretofore unused letter V punch to be substituted until a new letter A punch could be produced.
. Another very interesting feature is that the two letters N were obviously made with different letter punches, which can be seen in the upper left corner. At first this would seem to be a waste of time to produce two separate punches for the same letter on the same die, but it was probably the usual strategy in order to ensure that one letter punch getting multiple usage did not wear out faster than the others.
Just based on wear, this coin looks more like AU55, so I think it was seriously downgraded due to all the adhered grime on the surfaces, especially in the denticles. If this coin were conserved properly, I think it would re-grade much higher than XF45. To me, it has wonderful eye appeal, which I value far above any numerical grade.
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| 1826 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1826 G.britain
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NGC AU 58
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S-3801
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NOTE: I've decided to temporarily remove the obverse image until I have a chance to do more investigation into the strange lettering in the legend and get expert opinions. I'm certain that Steve Hill of Sovereign Rarities Ltd in London, who revised the 2021 edition of Michael Marsh's classic reference book, is going to be eager to examine this coin.
Obverse pic will return in 2024. Once the coin is properly identified, I will probably show the highly detailed NGC PhotoVision views instead of the normal views.
Meanwhile, the reverse is a nice example of pivoted hub doubling (DDR), in this case running from about 8 o'clock clockwise to 1 o'clock. Hard to see on this normal view, but crystal clear on the PV view.
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| 1829 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1829 G.britain
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NGC MS 61
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S-3801, Marsh 14 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3109, Lot 32775
Date: 19 August 2023
Critique: An extremely lovely example of this supposedly common date. The auction listing stated that the coin possesses "fewer abrasions compared to examples graded a full two points higher", and I definitely agree. Just based on appearance alone, it's hard to believe it was not graded MS63. The only minor detractions that I can see are a lack of luster on the obverse and a somewhat weak strike on the center reverse. Weak strike is never a cause to downgrade, so the rather dull obverse must have been the issue. But perhaps in the future I will send it in for reconsideration just to get a second opinion. This particular coin may have been graded many years ago when standards were a bit stricter.
Because of its A-class appearance, the auction listing went on to say that this coin represented "a relative value opportunity," but unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. This was a major annual auction, well-attended by way too many wealthy collectors willing to bid aggressively, and so I ended up paying full retail when the onerous 20% Buyer's Extortion was added in. Still, it was a rare opportunity to acquire such a beautiful piece, and I'm delighted to have it in my collection now.
Although there are eleven different coins listed in the George V Complete Set category, three of them receive no score as they are considered unobtainable by the average collector. Of the remaining eight "competition" coins, for specimens in the same grade the 1829 and 1830 coins receive the highest score. Apparently the NGC judges felt that these two are just a bit scarcer than the others. It would appear that this 1829 date is indeed scarce, since as of 11/2023 no other collector in the Geo IV category has an example of one registered.
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| 1830 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1830 G.britain
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NGC AU 55
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S-3801, Marsh 15 (Scarce)
Ex: Uvedale collection
Acquired from: Sovereign Rarities, London
Means: Auction 6, Lot 44
Date: 28 June 2022
Critique: A very bright, shiny example of George IV. Much better than he probably looked in real life. A few minor hairlines on his neck make him look like he cut himself shaving, but the reverse is so amazing that I couldn't resist buying.
Although there are eleven different coins listed in the George V Complete Set category, three of them receive no score as they are considered unobtainable by the average collector. Of the remaining eight "competition" coins, for specimens in the same grade the 1829 and 1830 coins receive the highest score. Apparently the NGC judges felt that these two are just a bit scarcer than the others. It would appear that this 1830 date is indeed scarce, since as of 11/2023 only one other collector in this category has an example of one registered.
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| 1833 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1833 G.britain
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NGC MS 61
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S-3829B, Marsh 18 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3101, Lot 35729
Date: 28 August 2022
Critique: Another very expensive coin trapped in a major auction that had too much eye appeal to pass up. The reverse is almost pristine.
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| 1835 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1835 G.britain
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NGC VF 30
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S-3829B, Marsh 19 (Rare)
Acquired from: SINCONA, Zurich
Means: Auction 79, Lot 1378
Date: 24 October 2022
Critique: A rather sad condition for William IV, but the auction company listed it as an example of the exceedingly rare overdate 1835/3 and I thought that might be correct. I ended up paying WAY too much because some other collector thought he needed it more than I did.
This particular overdate is quite newly discovered, and not yet listed in Marsh/Hill (2021 edn), I've seen one other specimen of this variety, a raw coin that looks to me to be in splendid AU58 condition, which sold at a British auction in Feb 2022.
After some time, the more I examined this coin, the less likely it seemed to be a true overdate. Looked more like just a die break that merged the top of the 5 with the curling section directly underneath. Things just didn't seem to line up properly to be a 5 on top of a 3. So I sent images directly to the acknowledged expert on gold sovs Steve Hill, and he gave me the bad news that he also doesn't think it's the 5/3 overdate. In fact, of all the other examples claimed to be 5/3 he doesn't believe any of them! I guess that's why it's not listed as a true variety in his book.
Well, just another reminder that labels on holders should never be trusted, nor should opinions of auctioneers. I hope this is the last costly mistake like this I make, but I seriously doubt it. :(
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| 1837 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1837 G.britain
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NGC VF 35
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S-3829B, Marsh 21 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232220, Lot 63541
Date: 19 May 2022
Critique: LoL. What a joke! Tied for Bottom Pop! At the time, I didn't have a single William IV sov, and this looked like a cheap way to get started. On the plus side, the coin has very clean fields with few scuffs -- probably because they were crushed out when the coin was run over by a truck. Actually, I guess they didn't have trucks in 1837, so maybe it was flattened by an elephant. Makes more sense.
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| 1842 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1842 G.britain
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NGC MS 61
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S-3852, Marsh 25, 'Closed 2'
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3102, Lot 32597
Date: 4 November 2022
Ex: Doctors Without Borders charity
Critique: A very sad day for grading by NGC. This is one of the worst examples I've seen from them on over-grading a coin. The grader had the nerve to call this MS61, when it clearly shows signs of wear on the obverse. I would grade this coin AU55. The reverse is a pathetically weak strike, evident on the lower central portion of the shield. This was most likely caused by excessive die lapping in this area, a process by which used dies were polished in order to extend life. All of the high points in this area, including harp, lions, leaves, and ribbon are heavily worn down. Die lapping was frequently used to "erase" surface die cracks, and there appears to be the remnants of one from the wreath up through the lions. So this may have been the main target of the technician doing the lapping, and he got a bit too aggressive.
So what happened here? I've shown the full NGC holder for the obverse so that the very interesting provenance to "MSF" charity can be seen. Obviously, this coin was originally auctioned in Europe, since the reference to MSF is shown in both French and German. In English, the organization is known as "Doctors Without Borders." This is actually a very fine group, and I've personally contributed to them in the past. Perhaps the NGC grader had a soft spot for them, and boosted the coin grade a bit to help them out financially? A nice gesture, but not really ethical, since grades should never be compromised based on the owner or provenance of a piece. So I'm guessing that the grader had a fight with his girlfriend on the day he handled this coin, and went temporarily insane. That could explain this travesty.
To make matters worse, there was a brief but intense fight for this coin during the auction, and I ended up paying about 20% more than it's worth IF it were actually MS61 (which it clearly is not). So, since I was well-aware in advance how badly this piece was over-graded, and saw it was quite over-priced during the auction, why did I buy it? I know what you're thinking ... I had a fight with my girlfriend that day and went temporarily insane! No, sorry to disappoint. And I didn't buy it solely for the very unusual provenance, even though it has some personal connection to me.
I'm very interested in mint errors on old gold sovereigns, and one particular kind of error that I watch out for is examples of doubling, where the image is struck slightly off, usually during multiple strikes to create the working hub die. In modern times, when this is found to have happened the die is immediately discarded. But 100 to 200 years ago, the process of die creation was very expensive and time-consuming, so if the doubling was deemed minor or at least not very noticeable, they went ahead and used the compromised die in coin production. As it turns out, this particular coin shows the most extreme case I've encountered to date of pivoted hub doubling on the reverse. On modern coins this would be listed as DDR. The doubling starts around 3 o'clock, and proceeds clockwise all the way to 12 o'clock, meaning 75% of the reverse was affected. The doubling was so intense, that it not only affected the legend and medallion (thistle/rose/clover), but also can clearly be seen in all of the outer denticles from 4 o'clock clockwise to 1 o'clock, as well as in portions of the wreath and the top part of the crown. This is without doubt the most extreme case of this type of doubling that I've ever seen on any coin, so I decided that I had to have it in my personal collection of mint errors, no matter what the cost.
It's not possible to see the fine points of doubling using the normal picture produced by NGC, which I've shown here in close-up. But on the very nice NGC Photovision pic, the details are crystal clear. I've gone ahead and shown the normal view here, since the PV version never shows the correct color of the coin, and I assume that's what other collectors prefer to see for these pix.
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| 1843 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1843 G.britain BROAD SHIELD
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NGC AU 55
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S-3852, Marsh 26 -- Normal variety
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 61255, Lot 97289
Date: 30 January 2022
Critique: A very disappointing coin. One of the very few I own which I think NGC over-graded. Looks more like AU53 to me. I've seen quite a few coins which I think NGC over-graded, but I make it a point never to buy them! Acquired this when I was just getting started collecting gold sovereigns, and didn't really know how to grade them properly. Live and learn...
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| 1844 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1844 G.britain
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NGC MS 62
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S-3852, Marsh 27, Wide 4 4 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3101, Lot 35761
Date: 28 August 2022
Critique: A nice looking, fairly high grade example of this early Vic date. The only reason I bought it was to use in a future article on mint errors of gold sovereigns. Reverse shows pivoted hub doubling on Britanniarum. I've maxed out the reverse view, and the doubling can just be seen, especially on the N's. You can tell it's doubling and not simply repunched letters since the thistle is also doubled. Like, who repunches a thistle? Seriously!
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| 1845 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1845 G.britain E/E IN 'DEI'
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NGC AU 50
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S-3852, Marsh 28x (assume R7 - Ultra Rare)
Spread 4 5
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232251, Lot 64553
Date: 22 December 2022
Ex: Douro Shipwreck
Critique: Wow! When I first saw this somewhat worn, stained, sad-looking specimen up for sale, I instantly determined that I had to have it, at any price. Well, any price I could afford. This amazing little coin has so many interesting features that it's hard to know where to begin. So I suppose I will just start with the information listed on the holder itself.
The date is actually quite difficult to read and interpret, but I believe, as the NGC grader apparently did, that it truly is an 1845 gold sovereign. The holder is the very lovely "Shipwreck Blue" label by NGC, and it's certified as coming from the famous Douro sinking in 1882. See the extensive account of that event on my 1881-M coin. Most coins recovered from shipwrecks have quite a bit of staining and crud on the surfaces, and this coin is certainly no exception. Just based on wear alone, I think this coin deserved to be AU53 or possibly AU55, but apparently the grader knocked it down based on negative eye-appeal. Can't argue with that decision. The reverse in particular has extensive staining, which I suppose modern collectors refer to as "toning" and which I refer to as "unattractive discoloration." The obverse has some unpleasant rusty material clinging to the rims in the northwest and east. But what's really scary are what look to be drops of blood coming out of Queen Victoria's eye, nose, and ear! There are more drops of this blood in the southeast area, including within the date. An item involved in a violent collision at sea where many people lost their lives, that seems to be dripping blood from the orifices of Her Majesty, is enough to dissuade any superstitious collector from bidding. But I decided to take a chance anyway.
Finally, the holder lists this as being the variety having E/E in "DEI", and close inspection would seem to confirm that. Apparently the engraver initially punched the E a bit low and to the left, and then decided to adjust that with a re-punch. I base this estimate of which location was punched first according to what I've noticed on many other re-punched sovereigns, where the first punch appears to lie on top of the later punch. In any case, this small adjustment is not at all what is usually referred to as E/E in Marsh 28D, and later years in Marsh 43A and 44D. In those cases, a very serious blunder occurred where the E was initially punched way too high near the rim, and after the re-punch the top half of the offending initial punch was polished away. The kind of minor repositioning of a letter in the legend like on this coin is extremely common on early date Vic sovereigns but is not always considered a significant variety.
OK, so far my observations are interesting, but wouldn't cause Michael Marsh to get very excited. But here's where that changes ... If one carefully examines the numerals in the date, it's clear to me that each one has been over-punched. The numbers 1, 8, and 4 are re-punched with the same value, however the final number is absolutely a combination of a 3 and a 5. The straight top of the 3 definitely stands out against the top flip of the 5, and the descending strokes of the 5 on the left and the 3 on the right are clearly and unmistakably present. So this is a full overdate, which is quite uncommon. What makes it even more exciting, is that the numerals making up '1843' are clearly smaller than those making up '1845.' So this is one of the extremely rare examples of a complete overdate involving different sizes. And if everything is considered together, this full re-punch involving two different sizes and two different dates is spectacularly rare. The question then becomes, which date was punched first, and which was over-punched later? In my experience, the initial date always looks to be on top of the latter date. This is contrary to what might be expected, until you consider that the die image is a 'negative' to allow metal on the planchet to rise up when struck, and the initial punch would be somewhat deeper than the latter one, thus making the earlier date seem to be on top of the later one. Since the smaller date '1843' seems to be lying on top of the larger date '1845', then that would indicate that this is truly a coin minted in 1845 and not some unfortunate accident minted in 1843.
So how did this happen? Where did this hybrid coin come from? I have a theory. A very large number of coins were minted in 1843, and they probably knew about this in advance and prepared a large number of working dies. If those dies lasted longer than expected, by 31 December there may have been a few unused dies left over, which bore the date 1843. Not wanting to discard perfectly good dies, the mint simply stored them away in drawers somewhere. In 1844, they only minted about half of the number produced in 1843, and had plenty of dies on hand to produce the required amount. But in 1845, they ramped up production again, and perhaps sometime in December they realized that they were out of new dies. At this point, the mint director remembered the few dies stored from 1843, and instructed the engraver to re-punch them with the new larger 1845 date. If my theory is correct, then this coin does not represent a mint error, since it was created deliberately. One possibly worrisome consideration is that, while errors in punching the letter E in 'DEI' are known for 1845, none have ever been reported for 1843. That would make it seem like this was indeed an accident produced in 1845 where the engraver mistakenly picked up the 3 punch instead of the 5 punch, and then this would be a mint error. However, the difference in size of the two dates would seem to be the deciding factor, and I prefer the deliberate overdate explanation. If true, then this coin would be the first example of an 1843 obverse die with the letter E of DEI re-punched.
Another bizarre feature of this coin is that there are very obvious raised fingers of metal in between the denticles underlying the date. These never appear anywhere else on the obverse, only under the date. Could this have been some subtle marker that the mint director added to indicate the use of a previous year's die? Can't think of any other way to explain them.
As far as I'm aware of, nobody has previously reported a "large 1845 on small 1843 overdate" gold sovereign, and it is unlisted in the latest 2021 edition of Marsh's book. I've seen pictures of the 1843/2 and 1843/8 varieties from the Bentley sale, and they are not at all the same as this coin. As far as rarity is concerned, both Marsh and the anonymous person who amassed Bentley worked for decades assembling their respective collections of sovereign varieties, examining several thousand coins each, and neither one of them ever encountered an example like this. I've personally looked though hundreds of 1845 dated coins in most of the modern auction archives, and never found another. So it would seem to be excessively rare, possibly unique. How interesting it would be if this forlorn little coin rescued from the bottom of the sea turns out to be the only known survivor of this fascinating overdate. Only time will tell if another one eventually surfaces somewhere.
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| 1848 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1848 G.britain
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NGC AU 58
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S-3852C, Marsh 31 (Scarce)
2nd Large Head
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 99 Lot 8
Date: 5 December 2023
Critique: A scruffy looking example of this early Vic date, not very high grade. Purchased as a raw, ungraded coin in this auction. Normally I would have had no interest in this specimen, however the image in the auction catalog was intriguing. It seemed to show a significantly flattened top to the numeral 8 in the date, characteristic of the rare variety 1848/7 in which the 8 was re-punched over a 7. There was quite a bit of darkening in this area, and so the picture was not really conclusive. But with nothing else to go on, I decided to take a gamble and buy it since the price was only a couple hundred US$ over melt.
When the coin arrived in the mail, even under 2X magnification I could not determine if this was 8/7 or not, so I sent it in to NGC to have a detailed PhotoVision image made. This is the image attached to this listing. Unfortunately, with much better lighting and higher magnification, it's clear that what appeared to be a flattened top on the 8 was really due to some damage caused during circulation. The top has completely normal rounding, but there is a definite ledge due to the damage. Although I requested the coin be certified as 1848/7 on my submission sheet, the professional NGC graders were not fooled and they have correctly assigned it to be the normal dated coin.
I did notice one interesting thing when I added this to my London complete mint set (1817-date). A quick review of the top 30 sets in the category shows that only one other collector has one registered here. However, there are several other examples registered in the London Victoria only category. So apparently specializing in just the Victorian issues from the London mint is far more popular than trying to complete the entire set of milled coins. I suppose that does make sense.
Well, just another failed gamble, to be added to my growing pile of similar flops. Usually on minor disasters like this, I believe that if I'd had the opportunity to view the coin in person before the auction I would have avoided the mistake. But in this particular case, even with the coin in my hands for over a month I could not determine the true situation. So I think it was worth the risk, and it won't deter me from taking similar low-cost gambles in the future.
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| 1849 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1849 G.britain
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NGC AU 58
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S-3852C, Marsh 32 (Rare)
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 61, Lot 19
Date: 3 May 2022
Critique: Bought this nice looking sov because it was rare and cheap. Great combination!
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| 1853 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1853 G.britain "W.W." RAISED
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NGC MS 64
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S-3852C, Marsh 36
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3099, Lot 31958
Date: 7 May 2022
Critique: Another painfully expensive coin purchased during a major, well-attended auction with too many rich bidders. Obverse shows pivoted hub doubling on Victoria and Dei. Very difficult to see without the benefit of the high magnification NGC PhotoVision pic. You'll have to trust me on this one!
It's easily seen the numeral 8 in the date has some serious problems. Under low magnification, when viewed from one angle it looks like a very small 8 was originally punched and then over-punched with a larger 8. But when viewed from another angle, it seems clear that the larger numeral is not a true 8. It looks more like a large 3 punch was modified to sort of look like an 8 by crudely gouging in a connection from the lower left knob to the center. I've seen this exact type of modified numeral 8 punch once before on an 1860 half sov, so apparently it was a common strategy employed when an 8 punch was missing. The 8 was used more often than any other numeral except 1 during the Victorian Era, so it would be expected to be in shorter supply than 3. And since 3 makes up about 75% of an 8, it would represent a quick fix in an emergency.
Careful examination shows that the letter G on the obverse is significantly tilted counterclockwise. At first this would seem to be a possibly rare mint error by the letter puncher, however as it turns out this misalignment is in reality the common case for this coin. It's actually quite rare to find the G aligned correctly. I've personally only seen a couple of examples. This is rather extraordinary, since over 10 million of these coins were minted. Most dies lasted less than 100,000 coins before being retired, so apparently the person who punched these letters had a problem with spatial orientation and routinely misjudged the positioning. It's surprising that so many millions of coins were produced without the mint director catching such an obvious problem.
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| 1855 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1855 G.britain "W.W." RAISED
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NGC AU 58
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S-3852C, Marsh 38A (R5 - Ultra Rare)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232211, Lot 63507
Date: 16 March 2022
Critique: Very funny story on this coin. Acquired when I was just getting started collecting sovereigns, and didn't have a clue what I was doing. When I examined the giant NGC PhotoVision of the obverse, it really looked to me like there was an overdate in the last number 5. I examined it for a week, and finally convinced myself that this was an undiscovered 1855/4 overdate! Wow! I'll be rich and famous if I can get this coin! So, I bid a bit more than I hoped, but won it. Later, I took more looks at the pix, and realized that some grime around the last 5 had created an optical illusion! In reality this is simply a 5 repunched over an earlier 5 as the dies wore down. Nothing special at all. However, just as I was getting ready to throw the coin in the trashcan, my new copy of Michael Marsh's book "The Gold Sovereign" arrived in the mail, and I found to my great shock that this particular "W W Raised" variety of 1855 is insanely rare, with less than 20 examples estimated to exist. As my dear mom used to say, "sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart."
On another subject, I don't actually own an 1855 Incused variety of this date, but I see that it gets the same competition score in every grade as the Raised variety. The Incused variety had an extremely large mintage for the times of over 8 million coins, and Marsh lists examples as Common vs. less than 20 examples estimated to exist for the Raised variety. How on earth did the NGC judges come up with such a ridiculous scoring? For example, the very expensive 1879 sov is listed in Marsh as only R3 rarity, and quite a few more examples of that coin are in the NGC census than the 1855 Raised, yet 1879 receives a much higher score. Somebody at NGC needs to buy those guys a copy of Michael Marsh's book and ask them to reconsider many of the really unfair scores that they've assigned, based on who-knows-what logic. Just my personal opinion!
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| 1856 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1856
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NGC VF 35
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Marsh A361 (Rare)
Acquired from: Drake Sterling, Sydney
Means: Direct sale
Date: 6 July 2022
Critique: Pathetic condition, but all I can afford for this date! Sydney Branch Mint sovereigns dated 1855 and 1856 show up every month in auctions all over the world, but I decided to just go ahead and purchase this one directly. As I've mentioned on several other coins, since DS only handles coins graded by PCGS, I had to send it in to NGC for crossover. Due to its sad state of preservation, I just listed "ANY" on the crossover instructions, but happily it returned with the same grade as PCGS found. And as usual, the destroyed holder still exists as a happy ghost in the PCGS pop report as cert #39108034. You may refer to the comments on my 1902-M coin for further discussion of ghosts.
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| 1857 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1857
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NGC AU 58
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Marsh A362 (Rare)
Acquired from: Sincona, Zurich
Means: Auction 80, Lot 2021
Date: 25 October 2022
Critique: Very nice-looking example of this rare date. This year had the lowest mintage of any of the early Sydney Mint sovereigns (1855 -1870). I was surprised to see that this is the only date for these branch mint sovereigns for which there's never been an example graded in MS condition by NGC. So I guess this is as good as it gets for now.
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| 1859 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1859
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NGC AU 55
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Marsh A364
Acquired from: SINCONA, Zurich
Means: Auction 82, Lot 1900
Date: 15 May 2023
Critique: Bit scratchy example of this early Sydney Mint sovereign (1855 -1870). Obtained in a very well attended auction with WAY TOO MANY super rich bidders paying megabucks for anything remotely interesting. Fortunately for me, they didn't think much of this coin since it's not very high grade, however I still had to pay full price to win it. There were NO bargains at this auction, much to my dismay.
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| 1860 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1860 G.britain E/E in DEI MARSH-43A
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NGC AU 55
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S-3852D, Marsh 43A (R3, Extremely Rare)
Acquired from: London Coins, Longfield, UK
Means: Auction 178, Lot 1730
Date: 4 September 2022
Critique: Purchased this raw, ungraded coin based on a very low resolution image from this online auction. Claimed to be in British NEF/EF condition, which translates to AU55/AU58 on the Sheldon scale. When I submitted to NGC, the coin came back AU55, so can't complain!
As described on the new holder, this is the variety of 1860 having the letter E in DEI re-punched over an E that was originally punched way too high. Most of that errant letter was eventually polished away, however the portion underlying the new E remains. As mentioned in the auction description, this particular error is more commonly seen on the 1861 coin.
There is also clear evidence of the numeral 1 in the date re-punched over a smaller 1. And on the reverse, it looks very much like the letter F in DEF was re-punched over some other letter, possibly a smaller F. Neither of these errors has ever been reported for an 1860 sovereign.
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| 1861 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1861 G.britain
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NGC AU 58
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S-3852D, Marsh 44x
Acquired from: St James's, London
Means: Auction 69, Lot 138
Date: 17 November 2022
Critique: I purchased this coin as part of a group of five raw ungraded sovereigns. None of them were high grade, and none seemed particularly interesting to the cataloger, so they just got dumped together in one lot. However, there were two coins that did catch my eye. The most interesting was an 1853 that has some extreme re-punching of large letters over small ones in the obverse legend. The other was an ultra-rare (R5) 1855 with WW Raised (Marsh-38A). My plan was to keep the 1853 and sell off the other four coins, since I already have a very nice example of 1855 Raised. Since this package of raw coins seemed unremarkable, there was no real interest during the auction, and I was able to get it for about 20% over melt value. My hope was that I'd be able to sell four of the coins for what I paid for the lot of five, and thus come away with a free example of 1853 heavily re-punched.
Following my master plan, I sent the five coins in to NGC, and got very pleasantly surprised that one of them graded quite a bit higher than I estimated. So I've decided to add the 1871-S to my collection since I had a hole there. As I was looking at the remaining three newly encapsulated coins, I noticed something very unusual about this 1861 sov. The letter G in GRATIA seems to be punched far lower (further from the rim) than the rest of the letters. It's so low that it almost touches Her Majesty's hair (which only Prince Albert and John Brown were allowed to do). Curious to see if this might be some new minor variety, I started examining just a few auction archives, and thus far have not found a match. What I did notice during this search was that every other 1861 sovereign that I saw has a different style of hair under the letter G. In this case, there is a pronounced bump directly after the G, whereas in all other coins this area is flattened. It's well-documented that the Queen's hairstyle was altered from time to time, at the whim of the current engraver I assume. For example, in the catalog of Part 1 of the famous Bentley collection sale in 2012 there is quite a bit of discussion about the terminal hairs of her cute ponytail, of which there are at least three or four variations. But this seems to be a heretofore unreported hair style. Since it appears that this style is rare, I'm wondering if perhaps the mint workers doing the engraving complained that the extra bump in the hair was causing them some trouble with lining things up to punch the letter G, and therefore the portrait was quickly altered to smooth out the hair in this area and make more room. Perhaps original mint records from the time may mention that change.
To make this unusual coin even more exciting, close examination shows that the remaining letters RATIA of this last word of the obverse legend have been re-punched with large characters over small ones. I had originally noticed that on the 1853 coin, but had overlooked it on this one.
Since it now was apparent that I wanted to keep three of the five coins from this auction lot, I decided to also retain the 1855 Raised coin as a duplicate. Having two of a variety which Marsh estimates have a population of less than twenty still existing can't really be a bad thing. So, in the end, instead of keeping one coin and selling four, I've decided to keep four and just sell one! Sometimes things just don't work out as expected...
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| 1862 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1862 G.britain SO-CALLED F/INV A IN DEF
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NGC AU 58
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S-3852D, Marsh 45A (R2, Very Rare), narrow date.
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 67, lot 24
Date: 19 July 2022
Critique: I don't really have enough financial resources to make much of a dent in a collection of gold sovereigns, so I've decided to specialize in unusual varieties since most of them are relatively cheap. Back in the early days of the mint, the engravers played fast and loose with the punching of dates and legends, so there's quite a wide selection of fun coins to look for. This particular coin is not so easy to locate, so I had to settle for an AU example, but since it's fairly grime-free the offending mis-punch on the reverse is exceptionally clear. Spink, Marsh, and PCGS call this coin "F over inverted A", however the folks at NGC don't seem to buy that! As you can see from the coin label, they designate this as "So-called". NGC is correct, and everyone else is wrong. In reality, if you examine the coin very carefully, it's clearly NOT any kind of inverted A under the F. Many credible numismatists over the years have tried to determine exactly what was punched in DEF, but so far no one has come up with an acceptable answer. I'm also at a complete loss, so I have nothing to add to the discussion. Some people think that the engraver was re-carving another punch and left some flourishes on it, while others think there are actually multiple punches here, possibly as many as 3 or 4 at letter F. The previously punched letter E is rather badly mangled also, so apparently the engraver was not at his best on this day.
In any case, whatever this thing is, it's fun to look at! As of 10/2022 NGC has only graded two of these, but I'm guessing that there's really a few more that were just submitted as general 1862 sovereigns and nobody paid attention to the messed-up punching on the reverse. As it turns out, this coin is tied for Top Pop with the other examples, so that gives it a bit of flair. In the Victoria London mint date set, only one of the 1862 varieties is listed for NGC competition, namely the R over Inverted R on obverse. That's rather bizarre, since it's the rarest (R4) of the five known varieties. So for now I will just have to include this coin as a normal 1862 sov. Hopefully, a new category for all varieties will be added someday.
I picked this up in a British auction, which can be dangerous since the Brits are pretty savvy about their gold sovereigns. But this was not too expensive, which suggests that it's not a very popular variety. Understandable, since nobody actually knows what it is. Unfortunately this was in one of those useless PCGS holders, and I had to submit it to NGC for crossover. The coin still exists as a ghost in the PCGS pop report as cert #44871622. I should note that there have only been four of this variety graded by PCGS -- two in AU53, one in AU55, and one (this one!) in AU58. If anyone competing in the PCGS set registry for Victoria with varieties is hunting for this very rare item, they can forget about AU58 completely, since I've destroyed the sole Top Pop coin holder! Sorry about that!
UPDATE: It's been over a year since I acquired this coin, and six months since I picked up its twin having the "wide date" obverse variety. After studying a few other sovs in my collection of strange re-punches and overdates, I do believe that I've come up with the answer to what this re-punch actually is! I'm not going to reveal that here, however, since I intend to submit an article on my theory to one of the well-read British coin publications, and then see what kind of feedback I receive. If experts in the field agree, then the next edition of Marsh/Hill will rename this variety and finally clear up the confusion.
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| 1863 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1863 G.britain NO DIE NUMBER
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NGC AU 55
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S-3852D, Marsh 46B (R2, Very Rare)
1 over Inverted 1
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232252, Lot 65653
Date: 29 December 2022
Critique: The holder for this coin indicates that it's simply an ordinary 1863 sovereign, however on close inspection it can be seen to be the rare variety having the numeral 1 in the date re-punched. Marsh lists this as "1 over inverted 1", however it's obviously much more complicated than that. There actually appear to be three different sizes and orientations of the 1 here. There also appears to be strong hub doubling in the date and in the name Victoria. This doubling makes it difficult to determine if the numerals 8 and 6 were also re-punched, however it's very clear that a larger numeral 3 was re-punched over a smaller 3. I will need to examine more accurate pix in order to verify these suspicions. It seems that there are at least four different obverse dies where this error was made, since I've seen three other examples which are different from each other, and none show the "triple punched 1" that my coin does.
NGC census does not list any examples of this variety being graded, however they do show four examples of "Roman I" being certified. Marsh lists no such variety, so I assume the graders thought that 1 over inverted 1 looked more like a Roman I. It's easy to come to that conclusion, and I'm guessing that's what they would call my coin. Only four of them have been certified by NGC, with the highest grade so far being AU55. PCGS reports that ten coins of this variety have been graded with one in AU55 and one in AU58. However, as frequently happens with PCGS, the AU58 coin has been sorted and populated incorrectly. The holder says nothing about Roman 1, and the coin itself shows a completely normal 1. I am aware of an absolutely magnificent example of this over-punch graded MS64 by PCGS in OGH, but for some bizarre reason they have it listed as "Arabic 1" in their census. When it comes to assigning varieties to gold sovereigns, the number of errors made by their graders is really disgraceful. If this unfortunate error is ignored, then technically no coin of this variety has so far been graded higher than AU55, by either company. If my coin were included in the NGC group, the "Total Graded by NGC" for this coin would be
In AU55: 2
In Higher Grades: 0
It will be Top Pop for a rare variety, just like another coin that I bought at this same auction. It was a lucky day!
I was very pleasantly surprised at the complete lack of interest in this coin, which I assume was due to the timing of the auction being right in the middle of the holidays. So I was able to acquire it for much less than I expected, even considering that the proper variety was not listed in the auction description.
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| 1864 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1864
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NGC AU 58
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Marsh A369
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232252, Lot 65390
Date: 29 December 2022
Critique: Very nice example of a Sydney sovereign. Not such a high grade, but not nearly as scarred as the vast majority of MS60 and 61 coins. I was very pleasantly surprised at the complete lack of interest in this coin, which I assume was due to the timing of the auction being right in the middle of the holidays.
Note to self: Always attend auctions during the holidays, since nice coins frequently go for cheap prices.
Note to self: Never sell in auctions during the holidays, since nice coins frequently go for cheap prices.
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| 1865 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1865 G.britain
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NGC MS 62
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S-3853, Marsh 50 (Scarce), Die #14
Acquired from: Stacks & Bowers
Means: Auction Jan '22 NYINC, Lot 7276
Date: 20 January 2022
Critique: Another PCGS coin purchased before I joined NGC and found out they can't be used in competition. See comments under my 1902-M coin for complete details. Originally I bought this coin because it was a US Civil War date and I was intrigued by that. Also, the coin has lovely eye appeal, with just a few minor scuffs on the obverse.
On the reverse, there are strong remnants of die clashing, when the two dies came together without a blank planchet in place between them. This is quite noticeable to the left and right of the mid-section of the shield, and especially so at the top of the shield on either side of the base of the crown. The usual location where die clashing shows up strongest, running directly through the middle of the die number, is only weakly apparent on this particular specimen.
The original PCGS cert number was 36670063 before that holder was destroyed during crossover. It still lives fondly as a ghost in the PCGS pop table. You may refer to the comments on my 1902-M coin for further discussion of ghosts.
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| 1866 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1866
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NGC MS 60
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Marsh A371
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232212, Lot 64398
Date: 24 March 2022
Critique: Gorgeous example of a Sydney sovereign. Not nearly as scarred as the vast majority of coins. Especially nice for MS60. Looks more like MS62 to me, so I might send it in to NGC some time for reconsideration and see if they agree.
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| 1868 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1868
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NGC XF 40
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Marsh A373
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232223, Lot 62407
Date: 9 June 2022
Critique: Heavily worn, but no serious defects. Good placeholder until a nicer example comes around. I'm pretty happy with the overall look of this one, so I'm in no hurry to replace it. Eventually I'd like to have the full set of 15 Sydney sovs in at least AU condition, but need to get one example of each before I start thinking about upgrades.
According to the listing in Marsh/Hill 2021, there are two distinct types of Sydney Mint sovereigns dated 1868. Those truly minted in 1868 were alloyed with silver and have a yellowish tint, while those actually minted in 1869 but dated 1868 were alloyed with copper and thus have a reddish tint. For some reason, London did not ship any dies dated 1869, so Sydney just continued using the old dies from 1868. They could have hired a local engraver to recut the date to 1869, but I suppose they thought that would be too complicated and probably look bad. It's really hard to tell the true color of coins based on photographs, since the mode of lighting can completely alter the true look. But when I hold this particular coin up next to some very clean coins I have from 1864 and 1866 it looks to be the same yellow color. So my feeling is that this is a real 1868 silver alloy example.
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| 1869 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1869 G.britain
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NGC AU 58
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S-3853, Marsh 53, Die #28
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 79, lot 41
Date: 4 April 2023
Critique: Although technically graded AU58, the obverse of this coin is a total disaster to look at. Normally I avoid dogs like this, but in this rare case I made an exception. The only reason I bid on this was because I was intrigued by the very strange looking crossbar on the first letter A in GRATIA. All of the pictures on the auction site, as well as NGC site, are so low res and grainy that there was no possible way to make out what is happening. There should be two parallel lines for this bar, but the blurry images show three. It could just be an illusion caused by the camera angle -- I've been fooled like that a few times before. But I was so curious that I just had to get a chance to see this thing in my own hands.
Since it's such a common date, and in relatively low grade, I knew it would sell cheap. So it was a very low risk gamble. As expected, nobody had much interest in this pathetic loser, and I ended up getting it for just US$125 over melt value. Since I didn't already have an 1869 coin in my collection, it can always serve as a "filler" until something nice comes along. But if it truly is some form of bizarre double crossbar as it appears, it will be a fun item to add to my collection of freaks and oddities.
UPDATE: Finally received this coin from the auction company in late May, and in the hand the crossbar of the A does not look very strange at all. Some indication of a large A punched over a smaller one, but not very unusual. So... another failed gamble. But it was cheap, so not much of a financial disaster. Maybe I'll get lucky, and die #28 will turn out to be very rare! Yeah, right....
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| 1870 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1870
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NGC MS 62
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Marsh A375
Acquired from: Sincona, Zurich
Means: Auction 80, Lot 2027
Date: 25 October 2022
Critique: Extremely lovely early Sydney sovereign, with very clean fields and great luster. Close-up view shows obverse hub doubling clearly present on virtually the entire legend, the date, and parts of the portrait. I was pleasingly surprised at how cheaply this sold, given the high grade and very strong eye appeal.
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| 1871 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1871 G.britain SHIELD
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NGC MS 64
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S-3853B, Marsh 55, Die #29
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 3106, Lot 33764
Date: 18 January 2023
Critique: When I first saw this coin coming up for auction, I was impressed to see an old Victoria sovereign in MS64, and I expected that would make it a Top Pop for sure. But when I checked the NGC census, I found that there have been more than 50 coins graded higher, and over 100 in MS64! I was rather shocked, but apparently this coin survived in outstanding condition in remarkable numbers. Then I noticed that this date had the third highest mintage of any "shield back" sovereign, so that would account for such a high survival rate.
Normally I would have just skipped this offering and waited for one of the many MS65 examples to show up, but I was intrigued by a very strange flaw which shows up right above the numeral 7 in the date. This looks almost like a very tiny 7, and appears to be raised rather than a gouge. This is one time I'd really love to be able to examine the coin in person rather than just trying to guess what's going on in a picture, but the coin was 3000 miles away and not worth the trip to inspect! The anomaly is not any kind of die crack, like the rather lengthy one running through the initial numeral 1. There is also rather extensive evidence of a die clash, which may have involved the ribbon in Victoria's hair leaving a long ghost impression on the reverse. When the coin arrived and I was able to examine it from several different angles, it was sadly apparent that this odd feature above the date is simply a clean gouge in the surface of the coin, and not raised at all. That was merely a trick of the lighting. Just another reminder that coin images can be deceptive, and even the best pictures online are no substitute for examining a coin in your own hand. Caveat emptor indeed.
Given the relatively huge number of MS64 and MS65 coins graded, I expected this one to sell for a fairly low price. But ... unfortunately it was offered in one of the largest and most prestigious auctions of world coins of the year, the NYINC sale. This is always very heavily attended by way too many people with way too much money to spend on their collections, and that's a disaster for minor players like me. Apparently some other collector of oddities fancied this coin, and we got in a bidding war that ended up doubling the price I would have paid in a less well-publicized auction. That's too bad. But except for the small tattoo on Victoria's neck and a scratch on the front of the coin holder, it's not a bad-looking piece and I'm happy to have it. In general, I need to remember to avoid this auction in the future. It's simply not a wise use of limited funds...
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| 1872 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1872 G.britain SHIELD - DIE NUMBER
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NGC AU 55
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S-3853B, Marsh 56, Die #9
Acquired from: 1817 Co, Bedale, UK
Means: Direct sale
Date: 3 August 2022
Critique: I bought this cheap coin based on a hunch. The pic on the website was low resolution and very fuzzy, but there seemed to be something strange about the number 2 in the date. I was wondering if perhaps this was a London mint version of the famous 1872/1 overdate from the Melbourne mint, so I bought it. Once it was in my hands, I determined that there's not really a 1 under the 2, so too bad about that. However, while studying my higher resolution pix, I noticed something else very odd about this coin. It's possible that it is an extremely rare unreported mint error, perhaps R5 rarity. Won't know until after I send it off to NGC to get a very high resolution PhotoVision pic made. But it looks very exciting for now.
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| 1873 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1873S ST.GEORGE
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NGC MS 61
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S-3858A, Marsh 112
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 61306, Lot 24009
Date: 23 January 2023
Critique: Decent looking example of this early Sydney sov. A bit scratchy on the neck, as usual for low MS grade coins. However, there's very little better to choose from. As of Jan 2023 only 12 of this date/mint have been graded in MS condition by NGC, with the sole Top Pop being only MS63. PCGS similarly shows only two graded MS63, with none higher. Over a million coins were minted, but for some reason they just didn't survive very well. Maybe times were tough in Oz in the 1870's, and coins got beat up quickly.
This coin was offered in a special auction of Top and near-Top Pop sovereigns, which seemed to attract quite a number of bidders. But they were mostly spending their money on the Top Pop examples, while ignoring coins like this one that were second or third tier. The fact that very few coins are graded higher didn't seem to matter. And the fact that none of these coins have been offered in a US auction in two years also did not generate any interest. So I got this one for somewhat less than I was willing to pay, and about 25% of what it lists for in the NGC world price guide. I got quite a few bargains at this auction -- for once I was at the right place at the right time!
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| 1874 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1874M ST.GEORGE
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NGC AU 58
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S-3857, Marsh 96 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232220, Lot 63410
Date: 19 May 2022
Critique:AU58 is my favorite grade for older sovereigns. They look essentially mint state, but without all the scratches and defects usually found on MS60-62 coins. Best value when trying to put together a set with good eye appeal.
This coin shows a very unusual looking numeral 4 in the date, which hints at being some kind of overdate or mis-punch. However the close-up view provided by NGC Photovision shows that this is simply a case where the 4 was originally punched at a very slight angle, and then re-punched to correct that.
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| 1881 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1881M ST.GEORGE
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NGC MS 63
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S-3857, Marsh 103A (Scarce), long tail
Acquired from: Smalls, Sydney
Means: Auction 194, Lot 80
Date: 13 November 2022
Ex: The Douro Shipwreck Cargo
Provenance: Spink (London) November 1996
Critique: Since limited funds will prevent me from ever finishing a complete set of British gold sovereigns, I've decided to simply acquire as many dates/mints as practical. While doing so, I intend to concentrate on three particular categories of coins: those of interesting and unusual varieties, those displaying mint errors, and those with unique provenance. I was very anxious to acquire this particular coin, since it's not only very high grade with excellent eye appeal, but it also has one of the most famous of all provenances known to sovereign collectors. This coin was recovered from the wreck of RMS Douro in 1995 after lying on the bottom of the sea for over 100 years. For those not very familiar with the background story, here is the very nice summary posted by the auction company , which accompanied the sale.
"In the early morning of the 2nd April 1882 the Spanish passenger liner 'Yrurac Bat' was hugging the Spanish Coast as it approached Cape Finisterre the last landfall before it took on the perils of the Atlantic crossing on its south-west journey to Havana. At the same time travelling north up the coast on its journey to Southampton was the Royal Mail Steamer 'Douro' having made a port of call at Lisbon in Portugal to disembark passengers who had travelled onboard from South America. As well as carrying valuable cargo the 'Douro' was also known for its well-appointed cabins and was a firm favourite of first class passengers journeying to and from South America. Thus, it was a passenger, Mr Stoher, who while taking in some fresh night air before retiring first noticed a light in the distance from the starboard (right-side) bow. Curious, he mentioned it in passing to a Fourth Officer who identified it as a far-off ship, but thinking nothing of it didn't bother to alert the Chief Officer on the Bridge who he was certain would be monitoring the situation. However, by the time the Chief Officer did notice the light of the oncoming ship it was upon them and far too late to avoid a catastrophic collision. Reuters reported: Corunna 2 April 1882. - The Spanish Steamer Yrurac Bat came into collision at 4 o'clock this morning with the Royal Mail Steamer Douro, near Cape Finisterre. Both vessels foundered. The Yrurac Bat lost 30 men including her captain and pilot. About 35 of the persons on board the Douro were saved. The number of the Douro's passengers and crew drowned is not known. The survivors have arrived here. The Spanish vessel ploughed into the starboard side of the 'Douro' in the area of the main mast causing immediate carnage. Mayhem ensued as the passengers woken from their sleep ran amok having received no practice drill on how to report to the lifeboats. Only six passengers from the 'Douro' fell victim to the waves but in the spirit of naval tradition, the Captain, four of the senior officers and the Second Engineer, all went down with the ship in the company of a valuable cargo of over 28,000 gold sovereigns plus a quantity of unrefined gold held in the ship's safe."
Over 20,000 gold coins were recovered from the wreck, mainly sovereigns from London, Melbourne, and Sydney mints. Those from Australia had been kept in the Lisbon bank and were to be sent to London, which explains their new condition. The vast majority of Douro wreck coins which have been graded are in AU condition, so one this nice is quite special.
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| 1883 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1883S SHIELD RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA
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NGC MS 62
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S-3855B, Marsh 79 (Scarce)
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232242, Lot 63347
Date: 20 October 2022
Ex: Reserve Bank of Australia 2005
Critique: Not a particularly rare date, but nice eye appeal and only one coin has been graded in higher condition by NGC as of 11/2022. Best of all, however, is the provenance. As indicated on the NGC holder, this coin was purchased during the famous auction by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Can't get much more historical than that. For those unfamiliar with this sale, here are pertinent excerpts from the Bank's announcement of the upcoming sale in 2005:
"Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Rare Gold Sovereign Coin Auction by Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia’s central bank with direct control over Australia's monetary policy, will auction their entire rare gold coin collection on the 29th and 30th of November 2005.
The gold coins were accumulated during the period from 1929 to 1976 when Australian law required that gold held by the public be sold to the central bank in exchange for fiat (paper) currency. Right up to the early 1970s it was compulsory for all gold found in Australia to be sold to the government or its agents at the dictated price, within 10 days of discovery.
The RBA says it has no need to maintain this stockpile, and has decided to divest itself of the holding, with select pieces put aside for museums, coins with no numismatic value melted down, coins with low numismatic value sold by tender, and coins of high numismatic value being made available to the public.
Nearly 6000 gold coins and 800 silver and copper coins dating from 1817 will be auctioned in Melbourne at the Old Treasury Building.
The Gold Coin Auction includes:
- Nearly 2,500 Australian Half Gold Sovereigns, representing all years of issue between 1855 and 1916, including many rare and high-quality examples.
- 2,650 Australian Gold Sovereigns and Adelaide Pounds, covering most years of issue between 1852 and the 1920s."
Super Exciting! I really would love to have been at that auction, but unfortunately I didn't start collecting gold sovereigns until 2022 so I missed it.
There was some considerable interest in this coin during the auction, most likely since it is nearly Top Pop and has such a nice provenance. So it cost me more than I was hoping, but I'm happy to have it. The coin is in a very old holder (NGC told me 2006), and looks more like MS63 to me, so perhaps some day I'll send it in for reconsideration, as long as they guarantee to retain the RBoA provenance listing on the new holder.
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| 1884 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1884S ST.GEORGE
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NGC MS 62
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S-3858E, Marsh 121
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232243, Lot 64370
Date: 27 October 2022
Ex: Reserve Bank of Australia 2005
Critique: Not a particularly rare date, but nice eye appeal and only one coin has been graded in higher condition by NGC as of 11/2022. Best of all, however, is the provenance. As indicated on the NGC holder, this coin was purchased during the famous auction by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Can't get much more historical than that. For those unfamiliar with this sale, here are pertinent excerpts from the Bank's announcement of the upcoming sale in 2005:
"Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Rare Gold Sovereign Coin Auction by Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia’s central bank with direct control over Australia's monetary policy, will auction their entire rare gold coin collection on the 29th and 30th of November 2005.
The gold coins were accumulated during the period from 1929 to 1976 when Australian law required that gold held by the public be sold to the central bank in exchange for fiat (paper) currency. Right up to the early 1970s it was compulsory for all gold found in Australia to be sold to the government or its agents at the dictated price, within 10 days of discovery.
The RBA says it has no need to maintain this stockpile, and has decided to divest itself of the holding, with select pieces put aside for museums, coins with no numismatic value melted down, coins with low numismatic value sold by tender, and coins of high numismatic value being made available to the public.
Nearly 6000 gold coins and 800 silver and copper coins dating from 1817 will be auctioned in Melbourne at the Old Treasury Building.
The Gold Coin Auction includes:
- Nearly 2,500 Australian Half Gold Sovereigns, representing all years of issue between 1855 and 1916, including many rare and high-quality examples.
- 2,650 Australian Gold Sovereigns and Adelaide Pounds, covering most years of issue between 1852 and the 1920s."
Super Exciting! I really would love to have been at that auction, but unfortunately I didn't start collecting gold sovereigns until 2022 so I missed it. Also missed the amazing Bentley sale in 2012-2013. What a shame. One of my collecting goals now is to get a coin with Bentley Collection provenance. Could take a while, since those who have them will be reluctant to sell.
I'm VERY surprised, pleasantly, that there was virtually no interest in this lot during the auction. A pretty coin, in relatively high grade, with amazing provenance -- should have attracted more attention. Well, another lucky day for me!
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| 1885 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1885S ST.GEORGE
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NGC AU 58
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S-3858E, Marsh 122
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232206, Lot 62412
Date: 22 February 2022
Critique: Another acceptable AU58 coin.
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| 1887 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1887M YOUNG HEAD & ST.GEORGE
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NGC MS 62
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S-3857C Marsh 109
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232213, Lot 65397
Date: 30 March 2022
Critique: Entered a low bid for this just for fun, and nobody else was interested so I won! Not a bad looking specimen, except for some scratchiness under the mintmark. But for a cheap price I can live with that.
This coin has one very unusual feature -- the first letter A in Britanniar was mistakenly punched with a very tiny A, and then re-punched with the correct size.
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| 1888 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1888M S-3867A D:G: FAR
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NGC AU 58
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S-3867A, Marsh 132 (R4 - Ultra Rare), DISH-M9
First legend, G: far from crown.
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 61, Lot 188
Date: 3 May 2022
Critique: Extraordinarily rare variety, but very little interest at the auction. Apparently the various varieties of the Jubilee Head sovereigns are not widely collected, since I've been able to pick up several coins recently listed as rarity R5 by Marsh for relatively little money. Reminds me very much of a series I used to collect long ago, the US Seated Liberty half dollars. The dates 1879 to 1890 had mintages of only a few thousand coins each, and only a few hundred of each are thought to have survived. However, none were very expensive since the series was never widely collected. I still enjoy scavenging for very rare coins that are low-priced. It's sad that NGC doesn't care about rare varieties either, since they get the same point value as the common analogs of the same year. Doesn't make sense for coins that are hundreds of times rarer.
This particular variety is so unpopular that NGC will not even allow it to be used in the competitive sets for Victoria in Australia. I suppose it's simply too rare to be considered, since Marsh estimates that less than 20 examples still exist. Only 1% of the total mintage for this year in Melbourne was of the First Legend variety, so there were not very many to begin with. I saw an interesting video from the auction company with a plausible explanation about why these coins were produced at all. The vast majority of obverse dies from 1887 were of the First Legend variety, and apparently a few were left over when 1888 began. Not wanting to waste precious dies, and since the obverse side was unaffected by the change of date, the mint decided to keep using the remaining dies from 1887 until they wore out. They then switched over to the newly made 1888 obverse dies which were all of the Second Legend variety.
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| 1890 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1890S
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NGC AU 53
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S-3868, Marsh 141 (R4, Ultra Rare), DISH-S13
First legend, G: far from crown.
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 89, Lot 72
Date: 8 August 2023
Critique: Although the coin holder does not give any indication of the variety of this coin, the auction listing showed it to be Marsh-141, DISH-S13. I will have to send it in to NGC to have it labeled correctly, and also get high resolution images made. Normally I don't show PhotoVision pics on my coins, but I will in this case since high resolution would be nice in order to display the DISH variety correctly.
Those familiar with the Jubilee Head series know that there are two recognized varieties for 1890-S sovereigns. based on the positioning of the legend on the obverse. This coin is the exceedingly rare First Legend variety, with about 52000 coins minted. Less than twenty examples are estimated to exist, in any grade.
Currently, the NGC census does not show any coins certified as 1890-S "D: G: FAR" like they do for 1889-S. So presumably this coin will be Top Pop once I have it relabeled.
Separating the Jubilee Head coins by variety has only become practical in the last few years, with the publication of Steve Hill's revised version of Michael Marsh's classic book "The Gold Sovereign Series." Before that, I don't think many collectors bothered to try to distinguish them, and neither did the grading companies when coins were submitted for certification. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if more collectors, like me, start sending in their various Jubilee Head sovs to have the correct variety listed out. When that happens, perhaps some additional examples of DISH-S13 will appear, possibly in higher grades.
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| 1891 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1891S
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NGC MS 64
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S-3868C, Marsh 142, DISH-S15
Long tail
Acquired from: St James's, London
Means: Auction 72, Lot 200
Date: 1 March 2023
Critique: Very beautiful gold sovereign, with exceptional luster. As of March 2023 a sole Top Pop, which is not too surprising since very few Jubilee Head sovs survive in grades above MS63. A quick check of the NGC population census shows that 1891-S has had fewer coins graded than any other Jubilee head sovereign, from any mint. A very large number were originally produced, so it's a mystery what's happened to all of them. Perhaps many are in the hands of British collectors, who tend not to get their coins professionally graded.
I do have some concern about a couple of tiny dark spots under the date and to the right of the ground on the reverse. They were obviously there when submitted, and the graders didn't seem too concerned with them, but I may consider having the coin conserved if there's a chance that long-term deterioration may set in.
Although this is a fairly common date, I expected the unusually high grade to generate quite a bit of interest during the auction, however that turned out to be wrong. Only one other bidder had even mild interest, and I was able to purchase it for about half of what I expected. For graded encapsulated coins, most auction companies show the total pop in that grade, as well as the number in higher grades. And many companies further give a direct link to the coin on the NGC website which you can conveniently click on. But this particular company just mentions the grade of the coin, and shows a low-resolution grainy image of the coin holder that includes the NGC certification number. Apparently most bidders don't bother to go to the NGC site and type in all of the relevant information, and therefore probably don't realize the extreme condition rarity of some of the coins like this one. It's just a small amount of extra work, and certainly worth the effort just to see how scarce or common the coin is.
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| 1893 |
GREAT BRITAIN 1816-1901
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1SOV 1893 G.britain
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NGC MS 65
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S-3874, Marsh 145
Acquired from: St James, London
Means: Auction 65, Lot 1361
Date: 21 September 2022
Critique: Very beautiful gold sovereign, especially the reverse. As of 12/2022, the single highest graded London mint Victoria Veiled Head sov by NGC. Very spirited bidding for this lot, and it ended up 50% higher than the generous pre-auction estimate.
There is a single coin graded MS66 by PCGS (cert #21806417), but it's definitely over-graded. In a side-by-side comparison, the brilliant luster of this NGC coin absolutely destroys the dull splotchy finish of the PCGS fraud. There is also a 1897-M sov graded MS65+* by NGC, but I think that coin is also seriously over-graded. I have just recently discovered a link to the auction listing of that coin, which sold for an amazing £4800 (approx US$6000) at Spinks London (auction 22007, lot 304). The obverse of my coin and that one seem quite similar in quality, however the reverse of the 1897-M coin is vastly inferior. I would give it a true grade of MS63. It shows significant scratching and cloudiness throughout the field, and a serious gouge on the horse's flank. The NGC certification is #6295547-004, so I invite you to make the comparison yourself and see if you agree.
Based on examination of all three specimens, I think my coin can rightfully be considered the single finest surviving circulation strike Victoria Veiled Head gold sovereign of any date produced at any mint. Approximately 110 million coins in total were minted, and this is the best graded example existing. For collectors, it's the ultimate specimen of this nine year, four mint type.
It's definitely a great privilege to own a coin of this stature, even for just a short time, and I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to protect and preserve it for future generations of sovereign collectors to admire.
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| 1894 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1894M
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NGC MS 63
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S-3875, Marsh 154
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232233, Lot 63357
Date: 18 August 2022
Critique: Almost passed this up while preparing for a major auction two days later. Realized what a beauty it was just in time to bid! Always nice to pick up Top Pop for a cheap price.
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| 1895 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1895M
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NGC MS 63
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S-3875, Marsh 155 (Scarce)
Acquired from: EBay
Means: Direct sale
Date: 2 April 2022
Critique: Lovely example of a veiled head sov, in a very old holder. Many times with old holders, you wonder if the coin might actually receive a higher grade since grading standards seem to be somewhat looser now than in the past. But in this case, close-up examination of the coin makes it appear to be a genuine MS63 grade, so I'm not going to bother submitting it for re-evaluation.
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| 1897 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1897S
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NGC MS 63
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S-3877, Marsh 166
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232216, Lot 63399
Date: 20 April 2022
Critique: Very few Veiled Head sovs seem to have survived in any condition better than MS63. For now, this is as good as it gets for this one, and it's a Top Pop. It's interesting to note that, as of the end of 2023, this particular date/mint combination has had fewer examples graded by NGC than any other Veiled Head sov produced at any of the four mints, with the sole exception of 1896-S. Even the rare 1899-P coin has had five times as many examples graded. There were 2.5 million coins originally minted, which was not at all a small number, so it's unclear what happened to all of them and why so few have been certified.
Although this coin is one of the hardest to find Veiled Head sovs in an NGC holder, and also has wonderful eye appeal, the previous owner allowed it to be auctioned off in a rather dull weekly sale by this company, with no special comments of any kind to promote it. As such, it did not draw very much bidding interest and I was able to acquire it at a reasonable price. Perhaps the owner was not actually aware of the scarcity of this issue.
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| 1898 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1898S
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NGC MS 63
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S-3877, Marsh 167
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 232214, Lot 61407
Date: 6 April 2022
Critique: Another Top Pop Veiled Head sov, but not quite so nice as the others. Very interesting story here... As of March 2022, there was only ONE 1898-S sov graded MS63 by NGC, with none finer. So I was very excited when I saw this second coin was coming to auction, and I bought it for a very cheap price. Seemed kind of strange for such a rare item. Then I looked ahead to the auction calendar and found that FOUR MORE of these were being offered in the next three weeks! Seemed impossible. How can there be just one of them available for the past 30 years, and suddenly five more show up? Have to be counterfeit. So, I wrote to the auction company for an explanation. They told me that the coins had been submitted to NGC by a European dealer who found them in an old bank roll of this date. Five graded MS63, and the others lower. Rather than sell all five at once, the auction company decided to string them out a bit. However, they still flooded the market and crushed the price. Seeing an interesting opportunity, I purchased half of the remaining four coins offered (two did not meet my standards for MS63 -- shame on you NGC!). So now there are six of these in Top Pop, and I own the better looking half of them! Gotta remember not to sell all three at once!
P.S.-- I feel so sorry for the fellow who probably paid dearly for the original sole highest graded coin. There's a good lesson there. Be careful how you value things, because a future hoard discovery may wreck your plans.
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| 1900 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1900P
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NGC MS 63
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S-3876, Marsh 172
Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 61331, Lot 24017
Date: 23 July 2023
Critique: Been looking for this coin for almost a year now, trying to complete my Mints per Ruler set. It's usually sold in lower grades, heavily bag marked with poor eye appeal. This particular example seemed decent looking, so I decided to purchase it. However, ... as I was adding this coin in, I noticed that the regime change in England has created a new ruler, so my set is STILL not complete! Grrrrr. Hopefully finding a sov with King Chas III on it will be easier than this last hunt.
The Perth mint only produced Queen Vic sovs for three years, 1899-1901, so they are not so easy to locate. NGC has graded far fewer of the 1900-P coins than 1899-P and 1901-P, which adds to the difficulty. And finding any Veiled Head Vic sov in a grade higher than MS63 is exceedingly difficult and expensive. So I was lucky that this example finally showed up at auction.
This coin was offered in a special auction of Top and near-Top Pop sovereigns, which seemed to attract quite a number of wealthy bidders. But they were mostly spending their money on the Top Pop examples, while ignoring coins like this one that were second tier. The fact that as of 7/2023 only one coin is graded higher didn't seem to matter. And the fact that only one other example of this coin has been offered in US auctions for the past two and a half years also did not generate much interest. Plus that one was graded by PCGS, which would not be usable in NGC competition. I was shocked that I was able to buy this one for a ridiculously low price considering its scarcity, high grade, and condition rarity. There were about half a dozen other coins that I was interested in at this sale, but the final prices were so high that I got completely shut out on them all. It does seem that gold sovereign collecting is getting quite popular in America, unfortunately. :-(
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| 1902 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1902M
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NGC MS 62
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S-3971, Marsh 186
Acquired from: Great Collections
Means: Auction, Lot 1114193
Date: 6 February 2022
Critique: Bought this coin graded by PCGS before I joined NGC. What a super disappointment when I found that NGC will not accept PCGS coins for competition! Made the same mistake with a couple of other coins, and finally decided to send them in for crossover. This worked very well, which was lucky since my personal opinion is that PCGS tends to over-grade coins very often. One very disturbing fact that I noticed... I recorded the populations of the dates and conditions of the coins that I crossed, and after I got them back I noticed that the NGC pop has increased by one, however the PCGS pop stayed the same! So apparently the two rival companies don't inform each other when crossovers are done! This means there is a "ghost" PCGS coin lying in their pop report now. Of course, I knew that almost every dealer breaks out coins from holders and resubmits them to try for a better grade, which also inflates the pop reports. So, I've learned not to pay too much attention to pop totals -- they're completely meaningless for both companies at virtually every grade level. This could even be true for Top Pop grades, where some aggressive dealer tried several times to see if he could squeeze one more grade level out, or maybe get a +. So if you see that there are 10 coins available for some nice item at the grade you want, don't count on finding it soon. There may in fact only be 2 or 3 of them in existence, and the rest are ghosts!! Scary....
P.S. -- for those keeping score at home, this coin was PCGS 44372715 before the holder was destroyed in crossover.
UPDATE: Since writing these comments in summer of 2022, I've been told that you can have a "ghost" coin removed from PCGS records by sending them the original label from their holder after the coin is crossed over by NGC. Sorry I didn't know that earlier, since I discarded the few labels that I had. It's very sad in the case of one very rare variety of 1862 that I owned, since I had the sole Top Pop PCGS example! Now that the coin is safely in an NGC holder, it would be polite to remove the PCGS coin from their inventory in order that collectors competing in their sovereign categories don't keep hoping the coin will appear at auction. I did leave a note for the person who had the formerly second highest graded example explaining this, and congratulating him for now owning the Top Pop coin!
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| 1903 |
AUSTRALIA - CIRCULATION
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1SOV 1903P
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NGC MS 62
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Owner Comments:
S-3972, Marsh 196
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 102, Lot 239
Date: 13 February 2024
Critique: A bit scratchy example of this early Perth Mint Edward VII gold sovereign, but rather nice luster overall. Although quite a large number were originally minted in 1903, relatively few have been certified by NGC. As of April 2024 only two graded higher. This is one of the very few date/mint combinations from the nine years of Australian production during Edward's reign for which it's extremely difficult to find examples graded higher than MS62.
As I've pointed out on many other coins, my favorite situation in an auction is to find a second-tier coin, with just a small number graded one step higher. This coin is a perfect example, so I expected to get it for a reasonable price. I was not disappointed, since the final bid including the comparatively low buyer's premium was only about US$250 over melt. This and several other Edwardian sovs I bought at this auction would have sold for about 15% less if not for one other bidder who drove up the price a bit. I'm sure this was a dealer, looking to pad his inventory with some cheap mint state sovs. It was somewhat annoying to have this fellow interfering, however I was willing to pay about 50% more for most, so overall I'm quite pleased with the result.
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