Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 20 26 Sep 2018
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British Coins, Victoria, sovereign, 1838, 'narrow shield' variety, young head l., rev. crowned shield of arms within wreath (S.3852A; Marsh 22A), obvious commercial wear on the queen's portrait most notably, but the fields also show wear and some abrasions, the strike being somewhat soft, certified and graded by PCGS as About Uncirculated 53, only one other example graded AU53 by PCGS, extremely rare
The reason for this reverse die's existence on some sovereigns of 1838 and 1843 remains a mystery, but over recent decades a search has been on worldwide for coins exhibiting this variant of the royal shield, with few coins being located of either date. The 1843 is the more famous but 1838 appears to be rarer. While the mintage for this first year of issue of gold sovereigns for Queen Victoria was sizable at more than 2.7 million pieces, its rarity today is likely explained by Challis (A New History of the Royal Mint, page 484): he states that 'by 1835 the quantity of light [worn] gold in circulation was worrying enough to be the subject of a Mint report to the Treasury. . . . Between July 1842 and March 1845 some £14 million in light coin, roughly one-third of the total gold circulation, was withdrawn and replaced'. Into that melt, it would seem, poured most of the unknown quantity of 'narrow shield' sovereigns dated 1838.
(8000-10000 GBP)
The reason for this reverse die's existence on some sovereigns of 1838 and 1843 remains a mystery, but over recent decades a search has been on worldwide for coins exhibiting this variant of the royal shield, with few coins being located of either date. The 1843 is the more famous but 1838 appears to be rarer. While the mintage for this first year of issue of gold sovereigns for Queen Victoria was sizable at more than 2.7 million pieces, its rarity today is likely explained by Challis (A New History of the Royal Mint, page 484): he states that 'by 1835 the quantity of light [worn] gold in circulation was worrying enough to be the subject of a Mint report to the Treasury. . . . Between July 1842 and March 1845 some £14 million in light coin, roughly one-third of the total gold circulation, was withdrawn and replaced'. Into that melt, it would seem, poured most of the unknown quantity of 'narrow shield' sovereigns dated 1838.
(8000-10000 GBP)