Here is my 1861 British gold full sovereign. Weighs 8g. Young head, shield. Please give me your opinion of grade, what it's worth, and if I should send it in to be slabbed. Thanks!
I would say no. The coin is obviously circulated, and it has obviously been cleaned and perhaps harshly cleaned.
I might hear a bunch of flak for saying this but since the coin has been cleaned I would buy a bezel and a gold chain and wear it. jmho
OK, thanks. For some reason, there are a few on eBay that look exactly like it, obverse and reverse, that claim to be Australian
Some gold sovereigns were minted in Australia and maybe yours was too. Go to google and find out, I don't know where the mint mark is on the older ones.
Here ya go. Nah, looks like a London mint mark. Different years were minted in different countries, but they are all UK sovereign countries. capeesh? http://www.goldsovereigns.co.uk/mintsandmintmarks.html
As far as I can see in 1861 there were none of the style from the original post made outside of London. Later, from about 1871 this pattern was made elsewhere - usually indicated with a mint letter just below the wreath indicating M for Melbourne, S for Sydney etc. Even with these letters they are counted as UK sovereign coinage although also listed in Krause under Australia. The sovereign posted by GDJMSP is of course a different design altogether, and these were made only in Australia until 1870. As to slabbing it - I think I have made my views on this clear before!
A simple question with a complicated answer! One answer is to tell you what a dealer would pay you - gold value, currently about £254 for a sovereign over here. It ought to be worth more, but that comes down to finding a collector instead of a dealer. I would grade this around VF on UK standards, which should add around £50 to the scrap value, but only if you can find someone who wants it. Worth having a closer look at the pictures - the F of FID on the reverse might be over another letter, but this variation is not listed in Spinks. If it is a new variation that might add to the value. Of course it could also indicate someone has been making copies....! In the end it is worth what you can persuade some one to pay you for it!
