Would like to hear your sovereign collecting focus and how well you are progressing. Any and all mints including the I-O-M sovereigns. Also looking for recommendation on reference books.
Nice coin S.Y. I have one of those somewhere. I'll have to look it up. (Perth mint.) Here it is. 1913 George V Gold Sovereign Mintage 4,635,287 Reverse DesignerBenedetto Pistrucci Obverse DesignerSir E. B. MacKennel Weight7.99 grams Size21.5 mm Composition, Gold91.7%, Copper8.3%
Nice coins - anyone collecting by date and/or mint? Also - looking for any information on sovereigns that went down with the S.S. Central America.
I'm trying to collect by Rarity and Proofs....AND (most importantly) IF I can afford the coin offered on my budget . An extremely rare 1841 and couple of 1859 Ansell's that I acquired not too long ago....Oh and I like the shield backs more than the St. George
Very nice - I could use both dates! Focus on rarity makes a lot of sense. Building a complete set bleeds you dry!
I prefer to get the ones I really want now and try to fill the gaps when I have the time to sort out my collection and see which series I want to complete. Many gap fillers are only a few hundred $$ but as you said, sometimes there are so many variations that they bleed you dry. Here are some of my proof coins: South Africa 1923 PR64 1937 Sovereign PF66. The scratches are on the holder. 1989 500th Anniversary set.
Very nice. I really like the 1831. Are you thinking of a complete date run? Any Australian or Canadian? Collecting a complete mint and date set would be challenging. Add varieties and you need some really deep pockets. What reference books do you rely on? I heard Spinks and Clive King are both working on books that focuses on varieties.
Well I have quite a few of the rare or scarce Victoria's dates including 1838, 53, 58 and 59 small date. A few Ausi specially the gothic braided hair 58, 63 and 66. I have been buying them randomly at the moment but will try to fill the gaps when I sort them out. Don't like George III too much (have his 1820) but will try to first complete Vic, George IV and William IV before looking at the others. Have only started collecting sovereigns about 4 years ago. Before that I was more into Tsarist roubles. Got a few Canadian George V 1911, 1913 and 14 I think, but have to save up for the seriously rare ones as they cost upwards of $80k. Do have some nice half sovs like the 1839 proof PF64 though!!! I prefer to look at the rarity online and see what are in high demand and take it from there. Cruiz coins has a list of mintage figures and I find that quite useful. Please remember I am a novice compared to many of the seriously knowledgeable guys on this site but am prepared to share my two pennies worth if it helps. I was lucky with the Ansells and believe there are only 25-35 known coins in that type so I'm happy I have 2 . Please post some of your coins for us to enjoy. Cheers
Not very good photographs - I haven't gotten around to taking some good ones. The first is a 1872 M and the second a 1857 Sydney.
Some very nice sovereigns. Since they are NGC, I'm guessing that you are in the US. Generally speaking, it seems as if the Brits like their sovereigns raw and the Aussies prefer PCGS. US? Maybe both PCGS and NGC.
No I'm not in the US but I have started buying a lot of my British coins from the US simply because they are cheaper in the US and are mostly graded. You are correct in saying UK market has fewer graded coins. But I think the reason is a) The scarcity of local graders, CGS only recently started there and b) The high cost of grading in the UK. By contrast, the US has been grading and stabbing coins for decades. I prefer slabbed coins coz it prevents handling and environmental damage and also it's a guarantee of what one is buying. Specially with proof coins you can loose several grades and $$$ due to mishandling. Do you collect interesting coins from other countries as well? If so, why not post some on this site.
I don't believe having CGS as the only grading company is one of the primary reasons. In the US, there are many TPG but only two matter to most buyers and sellers, NGC and PCGS. The lower price level versus the US may be a factor but in the US, there are millions of (primarily NCLT) coins whose value is nominal or predominantly the result of the slab grade. Mostly, I believe TPG is not popular elsewhere because collectors just don't like it, don't want to waste their money on plastic, don't care about the minimal differences in (supposed) quality which are such a big deal to US collectors and would rather spend their budget on coins. As for CGS, to my knowledge, they are owned by London Coins. I have on occasion bought from their auctions and if their catalogers are also their graders, I would be wary as a US buyer of buying a coin in this holder sign unseen without a return privilege. Their standard of "market acceptability" differs based upon my limited sample.
I agree. I'm. Not a fan of CGS or London Coins. I prefer St. James, Baldwins along with two or three auction houses in Australia. I tend to like raw coins, but have recently began collecting NGc and PCGS as well.
If you prefer raw coins and did not know it, you should be aware that US buyers grading these coins has inflated the prices just as it has for US issues, though the price level is much lower. This has happened with most of the coins I collect as well, none of which are US though I live here. The only Sovereigns I follow are those from South Africa. The 1923 circulation strike is a real rarity and the last time I checked 12 (or maybe 14) were in the combined population reports. The most widely accepted mintage for this coin is 64 which is derived by subtracting the 655 proof strikes from 719. However, in the Bentley sale, my recollection is Baldwin's disputed this number and claimed 406. I do not have access to their source. The other scarce - not rare in my opinion - one is the 1924. Last I checked, the combined population count was 57 out of a reported mintage of 3618. Once again, there is confusion in the records. I have a copy of the 1950 Kaplan Guide (a predecessor to the current Hern Handbook) which claims 2555. I presume there are some duplicates in this 57 but equally so, also assume that there are probably more out of the counts than in it, since many of these are probably owned by collectors outside of South Africa and not graded. I consider this coin overpriced at its current value. The others, I would only buy as an MS-64 or maybe MS-65, depending upon the premiums and counts. None of them are scarce and in one instance at least, the two MS-66 I saw offered on Heritage a few years ago sold for absurd prices.
