Australia 1860-S 1/2 sovereign
This specimen was lot 1067 in Goldberg Sale 137 (Los Angeles, January 2024), where it sold for $3,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "Australia. Half Sovereign, 1860 (Sydney). Victoria. Young head with oak leaf hair tie. Reverse: Crown AUSTRALIA within wreath, Sydney Mint above, value at the bottom. Minor mark in hair. Rare date and very rare in grade. Pop 1; 1 in 55; 1 in 58. NGC graded AU-50. Ex Goldberg Sale 34, Feb 5, 2006, lot 2106." Half sovereigns were coined in Australia 1855-1920 in small numbers compared to the enormous quantities of sovereigns issued in that period. This type, with the queen's hair tied in a banksia wreath, was struck 1857-66 only and all the dates are rare today. The SCWC notes the 1860 is the key date. The Sydney mint was opened in 1853 to strike the gold found in Australia and was not employed to strike ordinary circulation coinage until 1920. It closed in 1926.
Recorded mintage: 156,000.
Specification: 3.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, .1178 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM-3; Fr-10a.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- McDonald, Greg, The Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes, 23rd ed., Lavington, Australia, 2017.
- Pitt, Michael, ed., Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values, 32nd Edition, Matraville, New South Wales, Australia: Renniks Publications, 2023.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Stephen Harvey and Vera Kan, Goldberg Sale 137: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, featuring the Peh Family Collection, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2023.
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