Great Britain 1901 1/2 sovereign
The first specimen was lot 3111 in Künker sale 294 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €280 (about US$377 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"GROSSBRITANNIEN, Victoria, 1837-1901. 1/2 Sovereign 1901, London. Old head. GOLD. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (kingdom of Great Britain, Victoria, 1837-1901, half sovereign of 1901, London mint. Extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
The second specimen was lot 43161 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2019), where it sold for $228. The catalog description[2] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Sovereign, 1901. PCGS MS-63+ Gold Shield. Brilliant with flashy luster." This type was struck 1893-1901 in considerable numbers. This "old bust" is the most familiar and most common of Victoria's half sovereigns.
Recorded mintage: 2,037,999.
Specification: 3.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM 784, Fr-397; Schl. 448; Seaby 3878.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- 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]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 294: Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871 | Russische Münzen und Medaillen, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
- [2]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio, Matt Orsini and Cris Chatigny, The January 2019 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.
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