I cane across this and did a double take. The 1925 is a rather common date, but this high grade example (despite the jewelry mount) appears to be missing St George's chest! Would brockage cause something like this? And does it have any numismatic value?
Yes, I went to a jewelry store a few weeks ago and the jeweler had a gold sovereign and it was casted, looked like real gold and probably was but the dude was asking over full retail so I passed quickly. The fields around the designs looked kinda like yours but was way worse. Yours has the initials, his did not and his looked way worse than yours because the fields on his were way bumpier than yours! And I also told him it was fake, his, I don't know about yours. He didn't like my comment at all but I don't care, he has to hear the truth, if he's talking to me. His prices were crazy! I told him that I was a coin collector and I was interested in buying as close to the spot price as possible. He was asking for $331 for his! He's not a coin collector and obviously doesn't know much about coins and he gave me the impression that he thought he was smarter than the average person. Meaning he gave me the impression he thought I was a dumb a$$. I got my look of amazement and left! My lord!
They were asking for $1100, with an 18 inch chain and bezel. Didn't seem to understand that bezels reduce value for collectors rather than enhancing it.
My LCS is selling Au-Unc sovereigns at melt. He's the best place to buy from, but another shop 40 miles away is the best to sell to.
It is a counterfeit gold sovereign. I have something similar to it that I bought many years ago thinking that it was real. My piece has a “SA” South Africa mint mark. From what I have read, these pieces were made to fill the gap for a shortage of sovereigns that existed at the time. They were made of gold and were used in commerce. Today it is probably worth no more than its melt or scrap value.
I think it's a jeweler's copy rather than one meant for commerce. That would explain why the reverse, which was not meant to show, is much worse quality than the obverse. As such it would still be gold, but may not be around the same purity as a real one like the bullion counterfeits usually are.
1925 Soverigns are very common and can easily be found in quantity at Gem Grade. Your LCS selling at melt is a good deal, however. What does he buty them back for 96-98%?
