Great Britain 1885 1/2 sovereign
This specimen was lot 30893 in Heritage sale 3035 (Long Beach, September 2014), where it sold for $1,997.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "Victoria gold 1/2 Sovereign 1885 MS65 PCGS. Gem UNC, bold strike, satiny luster and beautiful gold color. Faint ancient lines in the frost of the portrait. Hardly a tiny abrasion anywhere! A beautiful, high-quality example of the very last date (the 5th head variety) made of this type at the London mint. No Young Head half sovereign in this grade has sold for much less than $3,000 in our auctions in the recent past. Ex. Terner Collection, Ex. Guilford Courthouse Collection. From The Law Collection." This type was struck in substantial quantities 1838-85 yet choice specimens are few. An 1885/3 overdate is recorded.
Recorded mintage: 856,000.
Specification: 3.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, .117 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 735.1, S-3861.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, and Warren Tucker, Heritage Signature Auction 3035, World and Ancient Coins, featuring the FoxLair Collection and the Law Collection, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2014.
Link to: