Australia 1880-S sovereign Fr-11
This specimen was lot 1022 in Sincona sale 59 (Zürich, October 2019), where it sold for 425 CHF (about US$525 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Australien, Victoria, 1837-1901. Sovereign 1880 S, Sydney. Young head. Vorzüglich. (Australia, Victoria, 1837-1901, sovereign of 1880, Sydney mint, young head. Extremely fine.)"
The Sydney mint was opened in 1850 to strike the gold found in Australia and was not employed to strike ordinary circulation coinage until 1920. The St. George reverse was introduced in 1871 simultaneously with the shield reverse (shown here). The shield reverse was retired in 1887 when the obverse was redesigned to use the "Jubilee head," and is more available for 1880-S than the St. George type.
Recorded mintage: 1,459,000 including St. George type.
Specification: 7.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 7.98 g.
Catalog reference: KM 6, Seaby 3855, Fr-11.
- 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.
- 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, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, Sincona Auction 59: Gold and Silver Coins and Medals; Coins and Medals from Switzerland, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2019.
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