Hi Everyone, I have an opportunity to buy this rare date 1841 sovereign for cheap, but something doesn't look right to me. Would appreciate insight into this topic. Many Thanks, Peter Z
Not an expert on sovereigns, so mainly just price honestly. I could get this for a thousand, but I know this is a several thousand dollar coin?
I don't have the best eye for this, but I'd question the distance of the trailing one in the date. I've only seen two of these and the gap causes me to pause. It may be fine, can't say for sure. Also - this is the unbarred variety. Will the seller fully reimburse you if it is a fake?
Looks real enough to me as a sovereign of the period, but I've never owned a Shield sovereign. if 1841 is the key date, be wary of a genuine coin with an altered date. Personally, if I was in the market for key date gold , I'd want it in PCGS or NGC plastic, or at least ANACS or ICG or ICCS, even. I trust all of those services for basic authentication, at least.
That is the unbarred As variety and probably one of the rarest business strike sovereigns after the 1819. There only a handful certified by PCGS and NGC combined. I would ask myself this question: Is the person selling it a dealer or someone who sells coins on a fairly regular basis? If so, why would anyone who knows anything about coins, sell something that is clearly worth at least $5,000, even in its worst condition, for a fraction of its price. All one needs to do is visit eBay to realise the true rarity and value of the coin. Having said this, I have had the opportunity to buy rare but certified sovereigns at less than half recent auction prices. I cannot see any obvious error and if it is the real thing, I'm jealous Here's the real thing in XF 40 grade. I paid a lot more than $1,000 for it
I was waiting for your to come out wreath - love it. It is on my want list. If the OP has a solid guarantee from a repitel dealer - then taking a chance and having it graded by a TPG is a reasoning chance to take. I recently bought a very good counterfeit 1917 Sovereign. It fooled the dealer. I was 98% sure it was a counterfeit, even though I couldn't point to anything wrong with the coin - just the scarcity of it. I bought it for a fraction of its worth with a guarantee. Sent it off for grading and just as I expected - fake.
What I can't understand is why one wouldn't have a coin like that slabbed. It is a modern and any subsequent scratch or environmental damage would take $$$ off its value. Unless of course, the seller knows it would not get certified. An ancient which has been heavily circulated...….OK I accept!! The collector may want to handle it and hope that maybe Alexander The Great or Julius Caesar might have touched the coin too. So I'm always cautious when buying an uncertified modern unless it is at melt or just a bit higher/lower. If I were to buy a scarce key date sovereign e.g. 1831, 1838, 1839, 1874 Shield, 1879 (London), even from very reputable auction houses like HA, I would immediately have it certified. Probably the best forty dollars one could spend and it would add at least 25%+ to the value. Better to be safe than sorry. A while back I bought a gold quarter stater from Roma, turned out to be a fake. They took it back without any questions. If you have a cast iron guarantee, go for it and once you have it slabbed put it on here again
Zonker I think I was lucky with this one. The auction house had put a fairly high reserve, though it was still much lower than the actual value that this key date had achieved in the UK. I was hoping not many bidders would be interested in the coin and jumped in at the last moment. Maybe my lucky day or maybe the other bidders had their sights on other stuff being offered on the night.
