St. James's Auctions
Auction 32 19 May 2015
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
George V, sovereign, 1917, bare head l., rev. St. George and the dragon (S.3996; M.219), lustrous with a number of tiny abrasions mainly on the obverse, well struck for the date, in plastic holder, graded by NGC as Mint State 63, extremely rare
This is the rarest date among commercially intended sovereigns struck by the Royal Mint in London during the 20th century, with Marsh giving it a rarity rating of R5 (estimating 9 to 14 known in all). While branch mints continued to issue sovereigns past this date, 1917 marks the end of the home coinage for 40 years, resuming only in 1957 after two world wars. Sovereigns dated 1925 were made entirely as a gold reserve to back the Bank of England's paper currency and were held by the bank; all seem to have been made during the reign of George VI (in 1949, 1951 and 1952) and today are generally called restrikes. These were released many years after being struck and today Mint State examples are plentiful. The 1917 sovereign, however, despite a mintage of more than one million pieces, has all but disappeared. It has been speculated that almost all 1917 London sovereigns were melted into gold bars at Fort Knox, Kentucky, after being paid to the USA for war debts; those that remained at the Bank of England may have been melted during the worldwide financial crisis of 1929-1930. Some few seem to have escaped that fate as they may have gone overseas individually prior to the USA export. The most intriguing possible explanation for their existence appears in Cullimore Allen's reference (Spink, 1965, page 15), as follows in his words: 'There are many stories about the sovereigns said to have been minted for the use of T.E. Lawrence during his activities in the Middle East'. The Arab Revolt against the Turks took place during this exact time, with Lawrence's famous siege of Aqaba occurring on 6 July 1917.
Estimate: £10,000-12,000
This is the rarest date among commercially intended sovereigns struck by the Royal Mint in London during the 20th century, with Marsh giving it a rarity rating of R5 (estimating 9 to 14 known in all). While branch mints continued to issue sovereigns past this date, 1917 marks the end of the home coinage for 40 years, resuming only in 1957 after two world wars. Sovereigns dated 1925 were made entirely as a gold reserve to back the Bank of England's paper currency and were held by the bank; all seem to have been made during the reign of George VI (in 1949, 1951 and 1952) and today are generally called restrikes. These were released many years after being struck and today Mint State examples are plentiful. The 1917 sovereign, however, despite a mintage of more than one million pieces, has all but disappeared. It has been speculated that almost all 1917 London sovereigns were melted into gold bars at Fort Knox, Kentucky, after being paid to the USA for war debts; those that remained at the Bank of England may have been melted during the worldwide financial crisis of 1929-1930. Some few seem to have escaped that fate as they may have gone overseas individually prior to the USA export. The most intriguing possible explanation for their existence appears in Cullimore Allen's reference (Spink, 1965, page 15), as follows in his words: 'There are many stories about the sovereigns said to have been minted for the use of T.E. Lawrence during his activities in the Middle East'. The Arab Revolt against the Turks took place during this exact time, with Lawrence's famous siege of Aqaba occurring on 6 July 1917.
Estimate: £10,000-12,000