Owner Comments:
Owner Comments:
S-3874, Marsh 150
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 102, Lot 29
Date: 13 February 2024
Critique: Very flashy example of one of the most common Victoria Veiled Head gold sovereigns. A very large number were produced at the London mint, and as would be expected a large number have been certified by NGC As of Feb 2024 only two are graded higher. It's very rare to find any Veiled Head sov graded higher than MS63, with the sole exception being 1896-M. A review of the top 50 sets registered in the Victoria/London Mint category shows that only six other sets contain one of these, with just three in mint state. That's extremely surprising, given how many are around and how relatively cheap they are. These coins appear in US and European auctions quite frequently. Apparently, this particular date is so very common that it's simply low priority for everyone, which I can understand. I also tend to reserve my money for rare coins, assuming I can always pick up the commons at a later date.
Since this coin is nearly Top Pop and so very nice-looking, I assumed that it would sell for a premium at auction. There was also the fact that London mint coins are especially popular in British auctions. Sadly, my assumption was correct. I ended up paying a whopping 70% over catalog value, however since I'd anticipated serious competition I'd set a bid limit about 10% higher than that, and thus I was successful. Fortunately the other bidders gave up just before I would have been forced out.
I should mention an exceptionally rare technicality which may have dissuaded all other bidders from getting more aggressive. This particular auction company saves on expenses by simply copying coin images off of the NGC or PCGS websites, which allows them to sell at a much lower buyer's premium than all the competition. In this case, I was quite surprised to see that they only displayed an image of the obverse of the coin, with nothing regarding the reverse. So I went to the NGC website, and when I entered the certification # I was shocked to see two identical obverse images displayed! Somebody made a mistake, and mixed things up badly. Since the obverse was so attractive I decided to take a chance that the reverse was equally pretty and bid strongly, but I won't find out if that was a good idea or not until the coin arrives in the mail.
** Update -- Upon receiving this coin I was shocked to note that there is quite a bit of grime adhering to the reverse. I'm stunned that NGC graders would still call this MS63, but apparently they don't consider grime when assigning grades. I've actually noticed that on other coins, which I refused to bid on. Personally, I think this is a very poor decision, since dirt on a coin seriously reduces the eye appeal, and that should result in a lower grade. So, in a rather bizarre twist of fate, I've ended up with a coin that I consider to be an inferior specimen, graded incorrectly. I sent an inquiry to NGC asking if the coin could be conserved to remove the dirt and still retain the current grade and was told they have to have the coin in hand to make that decision. So one of these days I'll send it in, and hopefully get it cleaned up to where it truly looks MS63. What a nuisance!