Australia 1876-M sovereign
This specimen was lot 32441 in Heritage sale 3064 (Chicago, April 2018), where it sold for $1,020. The catalog description[1] noted, "Victoria gold 'St. George' Sovereign 1876-M MS63 NGC, Melbourne mint. With only 3 examples grading finer in the NGC census, this is a true Gem of the Australian Sovereign series--full of resplendent cartwheel luster that streams across the fields with every turn. Protected and highly-detailed areas offer a special treat, utilized etched details and perfect light to grant a sculpturesque quality to the devices." This familiar "St. George and the dragon" type was struck 1871-87 at the Melbourne and Sydney mints simultaneously with the "shield" type altho the shield type was not used at Melbourne between 1875 and 1879. The SCWC does not attempt to separate the mintages of the two types. The Melbourne mint was opened in 1872 to strike the gold found in Australia and was not employed to strike ordinary circulation coinage until 1916.
Recorded mintage: 2,124,000.
Specification: 7.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, .2354 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 7.
- 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.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach and Warren Tucker, Heritage World Coin Auction 3064, featuring the Doug Robins Collection of Canadian Tokens, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2018.
Link to: