Australia 1896-M sovereign
This specimen was lot 70119 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $504. The catalog description[1] noted, "AUSTRALIA. Sovereign, 1896-M. Melbourne Mint. Victoria. NGC MS-61. Old Veiled Bust Variety. A bright and fully lustrous Sovereign, with pale golden color. Some fine marks appear on the surfaces, but nothing overly distracting to the eye." This "veiled head" type was struck 1893-1901 at the Sydney, Perth and Melbourne mints. The jubilee head used 1887-93 was retired. All the "veiled head" sovereigns are common except the 1899-P. 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: 4,456,000, including a few proofs.
Specification: 7.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, .2354 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-24; S-3875; KM-13.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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