Great Britain 2005 1/2 sovereign
This specimen was lot 75116 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Sovereign, 2005. London Mint. Elizabeth II. ANACS MS-68. A delightful and near perfect Mint State example of this popular modern issue displaying a stylized St. George slaying the dragon, as designed by Timothy Noad. Surfaces are sans tone, haze, or spots. Housed in an old ANACS holder." The Royal mint interrupted its issue of gold half sovereigns with the Pistrucci reverse (KM 1001.1) for this type featuring a modernistic reverse of St. George spearing the dragon. The SCWC prices the BU finish substantially higher than the proof. It must have offended the traditionalists as the old type was resumed.
Recorded mintage: 30,299 plus 5,011 proofs.
Specification: 3.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, 0.1176 ounce, 19.3 mm diameter, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley and Timothy Noad.
Catalog reference: Fr-483; KM-1064.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 2001-Date, 13th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2018.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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