United Kingdom Gold Sovereigns -- Date Set
1897

Owner Comments:

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.