Owner Comments:
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.