The Sovereign (Help and advice).

I really need some sound advice PLEASE !

 

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Well I think the above is an example of How to Kill a Good Thread. Nonetheless, I found this in rummaging around through old e-notes, and first want to say a long-overdue hello to John the Jute and Clive King. I wonder if you have given up on this thread, although I must say if either of you is a member of a premier U.S. grading service with four letters, I have started a similar discussion forum Over There just in case. I have had Gold Fever for a long time but it occurs to me that perhaps one could do worse than buying a few of the more challenging sovereigns for as close to melt as possible. I personally prefer graded pieces at this point, simply because I am unfamiliar with grading sovereigns. In recent weeks I have acquired several pieces, all PCGS: 1911-C (2), 1917-C, 1919-C, 1918-S, 1927-SA, 1925 (three in MS66). (Some of these are quite common issues, of course.)

Which issues do you think are underrated, i.e. perhaps close to melt (and by that I mean "within 50% or so premium" for a nice graded piece, and I have also tried to stick with the rule "more certified in lower grade than higher, although obviously for the most common pieces one should also use common sense -- a lot of the higher-grade pieces have simply not been submitted for grading nonetheless), and which ones are perhaps less rare than generally believed? Again, best regards, and PLEASE KEEP THE DISCUSSION ABOUT SOVEREIGNS.

 

Hi giorgio!

As a collector of sovereigns, I hope I can help you.

Pretty much any Canadian sovereign is worth more than melt value, especially the 1908C, 1909C, 1910C, 1913C and 1914C. The 1916C is virtually unobtainable (probably less than 50 extant), and the 1908C is also extremely rare (just 636 or 633 minted, depending on which source you use). Remember that total mintage for all Canadian sovereigns for all 10 years of production is just 628,139, according the the definitive book, Marsh's The Gold Sovereign.

If you can find these close to melt, I'd buy them. Some of the later 1920s Australian mint coins too are challenging.

I love sovereigns - not only are they intrinsically worth their weight in gold, but they are beautiful to behold and there is over 500 years' history in them!

Let me check out some other dates to watch out for.

 

I have the Marsh book and refer to it often, although he was unaware that the 1927-M (Melbourne) is apparently unknown in any collection. John the Jute, who has patrolled these waters (and I hesitate to paraphrase someone so studied in the series, much more than I--John, are you Out There?), has pointed out his belief that postwar Aussie issues may be underrated due to some "mass extinction events" while Canadians may be more available than generally thought, although still scarce overall. (And I have seen the suggestion that perhaps Australia, like the U.S. Saint-Gaudens double eagles from the late 1920-30s, reported the number minted rather than the number released, which can vary widely.)

andyscouse, looking forward to your further information (and that of others). Another Aussie sovereign (and half sovereign) reference is the fabulous Quartermaster auction catalog (Monetarium Pty Ltd, April 2009 ), which I have a print copy of although I have not studied it in-depth compared to Marsh). Perhaps an online version of that catalog is available as well?

 

Seems this thread has been going for a long time. Here is my best Sovereign, Jubilee Vicky.(Melbourne mint,Australia)

 

And a Festive Lady she is! Thanks for sharing.

 

i have read all your articles in coin news, they are superb. i am a subscriber to the magazine and articles like yours make it worthwhile.

 

I don't think Sovereign visits this forum any longer. He hasn't posted in almost two years.

If true, that's unfortunate. This forum could benefit from people with an interest in British coins.

I find it interesting that the British coin market is relatively slow compared to the US and other markets.


guy

 

Will you pls be so kind to help me in price estimation of my 1895 Sovereign. Photos you can find on forum under todays date. Thanks

 

Nebojsa - I replied under the other thread - hope it helps! BTW - it's a Melbourne (M) sovereign you have.

 

Thanks. Can you give me an idea about price of it

 

Nebojsa

Gold is currently at $1525/oz. Thus, 0.2354oz should be about $358.98. Factor in bid/ask price on this.

 

Isle of Man sovereigns from Pobjoy

Hi All-

I have a question regarding Isle of Man sovereigns (KM#27). I see a number of dates with letters "A", "B", "C", "D" after them. Does anyone have any idea what they mean? I don't think they are privy marks since a coin I have was graded by NGC has "1974B" on the certificate but there is clearly no privy mark on it. The only mark is "PM" on the reverse for Pobjoy Mint. Tried calling NGC a few times but never was able to speak with anyone. Same at Pobjoy. Also did not come up with anything online. Any info anyone can provide would be really appreciated; thanks! -MGB

 

Privy Letters?

 

I presume you have a Krause having quoted the KM#, all the letters and marks are explained at the beginning of the IOM section.

 

The IOM uses privy letters, but these are typically double letters AA, AB, AC, etc. These denote day of striking (AA first, AB second, etc), and started around 1978, I believe. A* is for circulation strikes, and B*, C* and D* were for other types, if I recall. Not on gold, though. The other privy mark they've used is the triskelisk in 1979 for Millennium of Tynwald, and a baby crib for birth of Price William 1982. There could be more...

 

Actually the letters I described (after the date) aren't explained in the beginning of the Isle of Man section (at least not in Standard Catalog of Modern World Gold Coins 1801-present). There are (lower case) letters corresponding to privy marks and some capital letters corresponding to privy letters (and associated events) but the NGC certificate on my coin says "1974B"; there is no explanation of a capital "B"; the lowercase "b" corresponds to a baby crib (for the birth of Prince William of Wales), but there is no baby crib on my coin. If you look under KM#27 it lists the dates as "1973A", "1974B", "1973C", etc.

 

Krause often make printing errors, my 33rd edition shows KM#27 dates of 1973 &1974 with no letters at all, the only ones with capital letters are 1979,1980.
I would email NGC and ask them, it might be an error on their part.

 

Hi daveydempsey- Thanks for the info. I spoke briefly with Tom Michael (co-author of Modern World Gold Coins) & he said that he'd consult with the primary author (Colin Bruce) and would get back to me. However, he did say that the listings of dates with letters likely transcribed from info from an expert on sovereigns, so he didn't seem to think they were typos (I also don't think they are typos since in MWGCs the capital letters after dates are listed for KM#27 for every year from 1973 to 1979), but will post their reply as soon as I hear from them later this month. Thanks for responding, -MGB