Here is a coin to look at, and with an interesting story. Rare would be it as well. This coin was struck in 1922 and is one of five, each of a different gold purity. You will note this has a mint counter stamped "A" on the reverse just to the left of the upper crown at edge, and was the accepted alloy at Au 0.875 or 21.6 kt. 1922 "accepted" alloy pattern for Egyptian coinage Graham Dyer, ex-Royal Mint Historian wrote an article on this in about 1984 that stated 5 specimens were struck and each of a different weight and alloy and were patterns testing the best-appearing alloy for the 1922(?) upcoming new Egyptian gold coinages. This particular coin alloy was then accepted and stamped with the letter "A". The whispy line at base of neck is on holder... There are an interesting putative set of Gold pattern coins of this era (1922-1927) that consisted of all the silver circulating coins of the time but struck in gold and seemingly most made it to the Pretoria Mint for reasons that I have not been able to find. So there is a threepence, a sixpence, a shilling, the florin and a half crown. I do not recall the rationale for striking the others however. About 18-20 years ago a certain seller in GB was offering one of each AND the 1935 Jubilee Crown struck in gold for what seemed like a huge sum - about $100,000 - and this nowadays would likely seem a piffling to the big spenders that have entered the fray....
Interesting, I didn't realise that one ended up with an A on the reverse. Was the article in the British Numismatic Society journal?
Umm,I believe a newer may have come out. Really a reference and unfortunately in this day and age the contents not likely to be acquired sadly....Even the "Tyrant" collector (I HATE that nomen) would likely give pause.
Indeed. Although gotten not by accident but rather through connections in England quite some years ago. I would not be able to touch a coin such as this nowadays.
