British Coins, G Edward VII, specimen sovereign, 1908C, bare head r., rev. St. George and the dragon (S.3970; Marsh.183 [R6]; KM.14; Fr.1), certified and graded by NGC as Specimen 66, in fact a superb satin finish proof, a visual treat and a recent discovery never before offered for sale, very rare, especially so fine
This wonderful coin was among the first gold coins struck at the Ottawa mint. It is made of gold sourced from the Yukon, where gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896, leading to a gold rush in the far northwestern reaches of the country that lasted for several years. Much as had been the case involving the massive discovery of silver in America thirty years earlier - the Comstock Lode - which caused the minting of the Morgan silver dollar beginning in 1878, the Yukon gold was more than traditional Canadian commerce required. This fresh supply of native Canadian gold, however, proved to be an economic boost once turned into coins. Initially, gold was popular only in the west. There are scant accounts but the gold must have traded in the form of nuggets and dust. It was not a convenient money, nor easily agreed upon as value. A branch of the Royal Mint, the mint at Ottawa, was established in 1901 by royal assent and by a decree of the Canadian House of Commons, but the building itself was not begun until 1905. It was completed after nearly three years - a massive stone edifice - and was officially opened on 2 January 1908. The delay was essentially caused by two factors: the size of the structure, and the salient fact that, at that time, gold as money held little part in Canadian commerce. Craig stated (p.388) that 'The Canadian Government had long pressed for a mint under their own auspices with power to coin sovereigns'. In fact, however, no gold coins were made for commerce immediately. Challis affirmed (p.544) that demand for sovereigns 'proved to be slight'. In its first year of operation, Ottawa created a mere 636 pieces dated 1908 and possessing the 'C' mintmark above the date on the ground-line of St. George's horse, all being struck with this satin finish. The purpose seems to have been to commemorate the opening of the Ottawa Mint. Of the 636 satin finish proofs made, ten were melted during the trial of the pyx, a sensible event owing to this being the initial gold issue; and the alloy was found to be exactly right. 1908C is by far the lowest mintage struck at Ottawa. Marsh stated that he believed the 1908C sovereign 'must surely be as rare as any sovereign struck' but that was the belief in 1980 when Marsh was writing. Marsh claimed to own one piece. The question remains: what happened to the 625 pieces Marsh said he never saw? This coin is a true rarity among modern coins, and in the intervening years since Marsh's book was published only a handful of 1908C sovereigns have surfaced. This is one of them! During the period of its existence as a branch facility of the Royal Mint, Ottawa issued a total of 627,834 sovereigns in only 10 years of production, a figure which excludes 318 melted for trials of the pyx. No sovereigns were made in 1912 or 1915; the final sovereign bearing the 'C' mintmark was struck in 1919. No half-sovereigns were ever made. In 1931, the facility became the Royal Canadian Mint. The heyday of the British sovereign made in Canada was over.
(10000-15000 GBP)