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<p>[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 8587819, member: 76194"]I've heard of George III through William IV sovereigns being as light as 7.80g, and Victoria sovereigns from the mid-1800s being as light as 7.85g.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is something that's not often talked about, but old coins were not always to exact tolerances. They were always close, but not always exact. Something I've had to research and learn about because most modern bullion sites just give you a gold content weight (what the exact gold amount of a BU coin should be on paper) and hardly ever give you the full metal weight of the gold and alloy combined, never the tolerances, and much less what a VF or aVF example should weight (which is what you often end up getting of we are talking about mid-1800s coinage) instead of the more expensive BU samples that are graded and have a numismatic premium. And it goes without saying that the more circulated your coin is the less likely it's going to meet the exact specs of what a perfect and shinny BU example should be on paper. It will be fairly close, as wear doesn't shed that much weight, but still, something that would have been disclosed and people would know 30-50 years ago, but no one knows these days because just about everything US comes in a capsule these days and people don't bother educating themselves.</p><p><br /></p><p>Heck, I think I'm a fairly small minority because all my old Euro and pre-1933 gold is not encapsulated, and neither is my modern bullion. I'll let some other chump pay those expenses somewhere down the line when I start to sell when I'm old as dirt and getting ready to die....or my next of kin if I still own gold coins when I pass away.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 8587819, member: 76194"]I've heard of George III through William IV sovereigns being as light as 7.80g, and Victoria sovereigns from the mid-1800s being as light as 7.85g. This is something that's not often talked about, but old coins were not always to exact tolerances. They were always close, but not always exact. Something I've had to research and learn about because most modern bullion sites just give you a gold content weight (what the exact gold amount of a BU coin should be on paper) and hardly ever give you the full metal weight of the gold and alloy combined, never the tolerances, and much less what a VF or aVF example should weight (which is what you often end up getting of we are talking about mid-1800s coinage) instead of the more expensive BU samples that are graded and have a numismatic premium. And it goes without saying that the more circulated your coin is the less likely it's going to meet the exact specs of what a perfect and shinny BU example should be on paper. It will be fairly close, as wear doesn't shed that much weight, but still, something that would have been disclosed and people would know 30-50 years ago, but no one knows these days because just about everything US comes in a capsule these days and people don't bother educating themselves. Heck, I think I'm a fairly small minority because all my old Euro and pre-1933 gold is not encapsulated, and neither is my modern bullion. I'll let some other chump pay those expenses somewhere down the line when I start to sell when I'm old as dirt and getting ready to die....or my next of kin if I still own gold coins when I pass away.[/QUOTE]
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1875 Australia Victoria Shield Back Sovereign
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