Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 36 25 Jun 2019
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Australia, Victoria, half sovereign, 1893M, veiled bust l., rev. St. George and the dragon, M above date (S.3879), certified and graded by NGC as About Uncirculated 58, extremely rare
1893年維多利亞女皇像半鎊金幣。NGC AU-58
This delightful coin ranks as one of the most important gold pieces struck in Australia. Mintage figures given for the entire 'issue' date are 110,024 pieces, including 24 proofs. Those statistics may be misleading, as explained below. The SCBC (Spink) book provides no details other than saying it is extremely rare, in any condition. Value estimates in the Australian references for the great rarities must be, by necessity, approximations based on past sales. The most important rarities, such as the half sovereign in this lot, appear for sale with decreasing frequency and are more keenly sought than ever by the top collectors. All others look and wish, but at least all collectors now have the opportunity to see these coins in colour and in detail on the Internet.
The 1893 half sovereign, minted from native ore at Melbourne, seems to have been the subject of vast meltings in past times, no doubt including the massive melt of 1931-32 by the Royal Mint, which at that time turned more than £90 million worth of gold coins, from all British mints, into gold bars as a more convenient form of storage for the Bank of England. No one paid attention in the least to the dates and mintmarks on those destroyed coins. The other source of destruction was the common practice of jewellers around the world of melting coins such as this, made of nearly pure gold, in order to make rings and other sorts of ornaments. The consequence was the inadvertent creation of a number of numismatic rarities.
More broadly speaking, a major depression occurred in the Australian colony in the 1890s, 1893 being the worst year. Many banks were forced to close, some permanently. A consequence of those bad times was that no half sovereigns were minted at Melbourne from 1888-1895, with the exception of 1893. Because of this lapse, it is believed that the 1893 mintage of 110,000 half sovereigns in that year were mostly, or perhaps all, coins of the Jubilee Head style – the last obverse die at the mint being of that type, and the Veiled Head not introduced until 1893. It remains a mystery why the 1893 Melbourne half sovereigns with the Veiled Head exist, but clearly they do!
It is currently estimated that as few as 5 are known to exist, as well as one verified proof of the original supposedly 24 pieces made. Almost all of the survivors of this issue are well worn, grading fine or even lower. Three of those were recently discovered in the Reserve Bank of Australia and were sold in 2005. Based on present knowledge, this little gold coin appears to be the rarest of all gold coins bearing Australian mintmarks. The presently offered specimen is believed to be the finest known example of this great rarity from the end of Queen Victoria's reign.
Comparing this coin to another major Australian gold rarity, the 1920 sovereign struck at Sydney, it becomes clear that the 1893 Melbourne half sovereign is relatively undervalued. Nine 1920 Sydney sovereigns are known to exist in collectors' hands, the last sale being in the 2013 Baldwin's auction of the Bentley Collection, that coin selling for £780,000. But only about half as many Veiled Head half sovereigns of 1893 minted at Melbourne appear to exist.
(110000-125000)
1893年維多利亞女皇像半鎊金幣。NGC AU-58
This delightful coin ranks as one of the most important gold pieces struck in Australia. Mintage figures given for the entire 'issue' date are 110,024 pieces, including 24 proofs. Those statistics may be misleading, as explained below. The SCBC (Spink) book provides no details other than saying it is extremely rare, in any condition. Value estimates in the Australian references for the great rarities must be, by necessity, approximations based on past sales. The most important rarities, such as the half sovereign in this lot, appear for sale with decreasing frequency and are more keenly sought than ever by the top collectors. All others look and wish, but at least all collectors now have the opportunity to see these coins in colour and in detail on the Internet.
The 1893 half sovereign, minted from native ore at Melbourne, seems to have been the subject of vast meltings in past times, no doubt including the massive melt of 1931-32 by the Royal Mint, which at that time turned more than £90 million worth of gold coins, from all British mints, into gold bars as a more convenient form of storage for the Bank of England. No one paid attention in the least to the dates and mintmarks on those destroyed coins. The other source of destruction was the common practice of jewellers around the world of melting coins such as this, made of nearly pure gold, in order to make rings and other sorts of ornaments. The consequence was the inadvertent creation of a number of numismatic rarities.
More broadly speaking, a major depression occurred in the Australian colony in the 1890s, 1893 being the worst year. Many banks were forced to close, some permanently. A consequence of those bad times was that no half sovereigns were minted at Melbourne from 1888-1895, with the exception of 1893. Because of this lapse, it is believed that the 1893 mintage of 110,000 half sovereigns in that year were mostly, or perhaps all, coins of the Jubilee Head style – the last obverse die at the mint being of that type, and the Veiled Head not introduced until 1893. It remains a mystery why the 1893 Melbourne half sovereigns with the Veiled Head exist, but clearly they do!
It is currently estimated that as few as 5 are known to exist, as well as one verified proof of the original supposedly 24 pieces made. Almost all of the survivors of this issue are well worn, grading fine or even lower. Three of those were recently discovered in the Reserve Bank of Australia and were sold in 2005. Based on present knowledge, this little gold coin appears to be the rarest of all gold coins bearing Australian mintmarks. The presently offered specimen is believed to be the finest known example of this great rarity from the end of Queen Victoria's reign.
Comparing this coin to another major Australian gold rarity, the 1920 sovereign struck at Sydney, it becomes clear that the 1893 Melbourne half sovereign is relatively undervalued. Nine 1920 Sydney sovereigns are known to exist in collectors' hands, the last sale being in the 2013 Baldwin's auction of the Bentley Collection, that coin selling for £780,000. But only about half as many Veiled Head half sovereigns of 1893 minted at Melbourne appear to exist.
(110000-125000)