United Kingdom Gold Sovereigns -- Date Set
1913

Owner Comments:

S-4003, Marsh 273

Acquired from: Heritage
Means: Auction 61306, Lot 24021
Date: 23 January 2023

Critique: Very nice looking example of this early Sydney sov of George V. Quite a few of these coins have been graded, but as of Jan 2023 only two graded higher by NGC. Although well over a hundred million gold sovereigns were minted during George's reign from 1911 to 1932, with the exception of a few dates it's very rare to find an example graded higher than MS64, from any mint.

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 tier. The fact that very few coins are graded higher didn't seem to matter. And the fact that only two examples of this coin have been offered in US auctions over the past two and a half years also did not generate much interest. So I was able to buy this one for a ridiculously low price considering its high grade, just slightly above melt value. I got quite a few bargains at this auction -- for once I was at the right place at the right time!!