South Africa 1923-SA sovereign
This specimen was lot 22688 in Heritage sale 3021 (New York, January 2013), where it sold for $49,937.50. The catalog description[1] noted,
"A Spectacular Mint State 1923-SA Sovereign George V gold Sovereign 1923-SA, MS66 Prooflike PCGS; in fact, this coin is not prooflike at all, but satiny in texture with bright luster, the strike not at all that of a proof, sharp but not minutely detailed on the highest points, some small abrasions also attesting to the intended commercial nature of this piece, which glows with brilliance and shows reddish tints to the fine gold. On the rims, the small denticles of the obverse rim are sharp, and the tiny incuse blocks forming the reverse rim are finely detailed. As well, there is a knifelike quality to each rim where it joins the edge, which is sharply reeded. Clearly, this is a special coin, not a proof, carefully made and lovingly saved by somebody. In recent years, the Terner Collection contained another gem, graded MS65 by PCGS. The cataloguer purchased that coin in January of 1994 on behalf of Dr Terner. It and several others (all seen by the present cataloguer at the end of 1993) showed up in London not long before, coming from the estate of Raoul Robellaz Kahan, whose career took him to the mints at Perth and Bombay during the period of World War One, and a few years later to the Rand Refinery in South Africa, which would supply gold specie to the mint at Pretoria beginning at the end of the year 1921. The mint came into existence officially on December 14, 1922, by proclamation of King George V, but only opened for operation at an unknown date during 1923. Gold came tumbling into the refinery a little more than a year later, but during 1923 it was in scant supply. Citing a report written by the Deputy Master of the Mint in 1924, Marsh pointedly states (see page 89 of his book The Gold Sovereign) that "During the period covered by this report only one deposit of gold was received at the mint. This consisted of old jewellery, which after the Rand Refinery's charge for refining, and the Mint charges, was found to be of the net value of £406.0s.9d. The resulting sovereigns were delivered to the depositor." This evidence suggests, but does not prove, that 406 currency sovereigns were minted at Pretoria during 1923; the mint master mentioned only "resulting sovereigns," which is suggestive but not definitive. Nor did he identify the "depositor." What is definitive is the survival of those coins. Evidently most of the mintage perished. Marsh further reported that his correspondence with the South African Mint in 1979-1980 confirmed the statement from that report of 1924. Information dating from 1980 to 1985 also confirmed the existence of a currency specimen of the 1923-SA sovereign held in the Mint Collection at Pretoria. It is one of just a few pieces known to exist. The issue is rated Extremely Rare. As concerns the presently offered example, only a few individuals throughout history have found themselves in such a position as did Kahan, clever enough to obtain for himself a few samples of the brand-new gold sovereigns bearing the mint's initials "SA" embedded in the ground line just above the date upon which the mounted knight is seen slaying the mythical dragon. This specimen was obtained from the Bentley Collection, Part 2, lot 920, sold last September in London, where its source was cited, dating to exactly the same time during which the present cataloguer obtained Dr Terner's specimen. The provenance is one of the clearest possible and most direct links to any great rarity, and is beyond dispute. This beautiful, gleaming gold coin was surely among the first sovereigns struck at Pretoria in 1923, was saved by Kahan at issue, and is now certified as being at the top of the population of only a handful of known examples."
Recorded mintage: 64 plus 655.
Specification: 7.98 g, 0.917 fine gold, .235 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM-21, Spink-4004, Marsh-287 (mintage 406 pieces), Hern-S338.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Hern, Brian, John Bothma and Hercie Pieterse, Hern's Handbook on South African Coins & Patterns, Ferndale, South Africa, 2013.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3021, featuring the Cecil Webster, Richard P. Ariagno and Elizabeth McPhall Charters Collection, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2012.
Link to: