Heritage World Coin Auctions
CSNS Signature Sale 3073 25-26 & 29 Apr 2019
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Great Britain
George V gold Sovereign 1917 MS65 NGC, KM820, S-3996, Marsh-219 (R5). An unbelievable marriage of rarity and grade: the single highest certified example of the celebrated 1917 London Sovereign. This type was not always as elusive as it is today; unlike other rare Sovereigns such as the 1819 and 1920-S both of which always existed in extremely limited numbers, the mintage of 1917 Sovereigns actually exceeded one million. Unfortunately, almost the entirety of this number were retained by the Bank of England, and later exported to Fort Knox after WWI as payment for accrued war debts to the US. After the passing of the Gold Reserve Act in January 1934 (the same act which created such a rarity in the US Double Eagle of 1933), all the 1917 Sovereigns held in the US were melted down and re-barred, leaving just a handful in existence. Just 34 examples of this rarity have been graded by either NGC or PCGS, and of this number the present offering represents the only gem level example; positively aglow with cartwheel luster, the devices bold and well-struck, the fields curiously speckled as if struck with a rusty die but bearing very few contact marks or hairlines. An MS63 example of this rarity realized $28,800 in our September 2018 Long Beach sale, and we can only anticipate the response this present piece will receive being the finest known of such a highly contested date.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 35000-45000 USD
George V gold Sovereign 1917 MS65 NGC, KM820, S-3996, Marsh-219 (R5). An unbelievable marriage of rarity and grade: the single highest certified example of the celebrated 1917 London Sovereign. This type was not always as elusive as it is today; unlike other rare Sovereigns such as the 1819 and 1920-S both of which always existed in extremely limited numbers, the mintage of 1917 Sovereigns actually exceeded one million. Unfortunately, almost the entirety of this number were retained by the Bank of England, and later exported to Fort Knox after WWI as payment for accrued war debts to the US. After the passing of the Gold Reserve Act in January 1934 (the same act which created such a rarity in the US Double Eagle of 1933), all the 1917 Sovereigns held in the US were melted down and re-barred, leaving just a handful in existence. Just 34 examples of this rarity have been graded by either NGC or PCGS, and of this number the present offering represents the only gem level example; positively aglow with cartwheel luster, the devices bold and well-struck, the fields curiously speckled as if struck with a rusty die but bearing very few contact marks or hairlines. An MS63 example of this rarity realized $28,800 in our September 2018 Long Beach sale, and we can only anticipate the response this present piece will receive being the finest known of such a highly contested date.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 35000-45000 USD