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CSNS Signature Sale 3099 5-7 May 2022
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Australia
George V gold Sovereign 1920-S MS64+ NGC, Sydney mint, KM29, S-4003 (Of highest rarity), McDonald-264, Rennik-pg. 35 (3 Known; Extremely Rare), Marsh-280 (R6), QM-196 (R7). The undisputed "King" of the Australian Sovereign series, even within a collection as jam-packed with extreme rarities as that presented here, with a total of just 6 known examples. The finest survivor in business-strike finish--with just a single other specimen, graded MS64 by NGC, having been certified--the offering shows absolutely no signs of handling since it was first minted, the reverse demonstrating the usual so-called "pickled" texture, the exact origins of which remain uncertain to this day. Fine scattered die polish can be observed behind George's bust, serving as one of the few noticeable features across otherwise satin honey-gold fields that whirl with full cartwheel luster. By all measures a show-stopping selection that edges very nearly on Gem Mint State preservation.
An issue which was at first underappreciated as a rarity, it was early supposed that the 1920-S Sovereign represented a relatively common piece, owing to a reported mintage of some 360,000. While it is now known from the Royal Mint Annual Report that the total mintage for the issue was 360,180 pieces, all from 1920-dated dies and struck between January and June 1920, the number itself requires some contextualization to be fully appreciated. Most dates of the pre- and post-WWI era saw a mintage of at minimum 1 million+ coins across Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, increasingly concentrated at the latter. Numbers burgeoned to nearly 4 million in 1918, owing to wartime needs, with mintage of 1/2 Sovereigns halted as unneeded for commerce from 1917 onwards. By 1920, silver and gold prices had surged in the post-war years, hitting a peak in February of 127s 4d per ounce. As has been recently discussed in Howard Hodgson's article "The 1920 Sydney sovereign: A centenary in review," demand in 1920 had been focused much more on the coinage of pence and halfpence, and most of the 1920-S Sovereign's original mintage was melted alongside 105 million other Sovereigns in the late 1920's and early 1930's in the US and England. Though former scholarship supposed that the small handful of surviving examples were commissioned by prominent Sydney citizen Jacob Garrard (1846-1931) from the Mint for distribution to his seven children to celebrate his Golden Wedding Anniversary, Hodgson discusses that contemporary documentation records no formal order from Garrard, and that he more likely obtained them from the Commonwealth Bank to which the Sydney Mint delivered newly struck Sovereigns during the 1920s. As such, it is notable that the 1920-S represents what is perhaps the paramount rarity of the regular circulation Sovereign series, rather than a private order. Today, we have been able to trace the following additional specimens:
1) Spink Auction 90 (March 1992, Lot 438); Spink Australia Auction 2 (November 1978, Lot 631); A.H.F. Baldwin Collection
2) St. James's Auction 25 (March 2014, Lot 5); Monetarium, Australia to the George Collection by Private Treaty; Noble Numismatics Auction 50 (March 1996, Lot 1470)
3) The Bentley Collection specimen. Baldwin's Auction 76 (September 2012, Lot 736); Purchased by Winsor & Sons; Kurt Jaggard Monetary Auction Sale 2 (April 2006, Lot 404); Jaggards, Sydney Retail List (February 1979)
4) MDC Monaco Auction 7 (June 2021, Lot 123); Quartermaster Collection (Monetarium, Australia June 2009, Lot 196); Paul Terry Collection, sold by Monetarium, Australia to Tom Hadley (Quartermaster) in 1992 by Private Treaty; R. Jaggard Collection (sold by private treaty in 1989). Certified SP66 by PCGS.
5) The National Coin Collection, Royal Australian Mint specimen. Ex. Melbourne Mint. Prominently scuffed on the reverse with numerous edge dings.
This particular representative was held by Jacob Garrard's descendants for the last 100+ years, and hence represents a fresh addition to the known census not previously available for public auction. As such, we can hardly stress the importance of the present opportunity enough! From the Regent Collection
https://coins.ha.com/itm/australia/australia-george-v-gold-sovereign-1920-s-ms64-ngc-/a/3099-30154.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3099-05052022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 400000-500000 USD
George V gold Sovereign 1920-S MS64+ NGC, Sydney mint, KM29, S-4003 (Of highest rarity), McDonald-264, Rennik-pg. 35 (3 Known; Extremely Rare), Marsh-280 (R6), QM-196 (R7). The undisputed "King" of the Australian Sovereign series, even within a collection as jam-packed with extreme rarities as that presented here, with a total of just 6 known examples. The finest survivor in business-strike finish--with just a single other specimen, graded MS64 by NGC, having been certified--the offering shows absolutely no signs of handling since it was first minted, the reverse demonstrating the usual so-called "pickled" texture, the exact origins of which remain uncertain to this day. Fine scattered die polish can be observed behind George's bust, serving as one of the few noticeable features across otherwise satin honey-gold fields that whirl with full cartwheel luster. By all measures a show-stopping selection that edges very nearly on Gem Mint State preservation.
An issue which was at first underappreciated as a rarity, it was early supposed that the 1920-S Sovereign represented a relatively common piece, owing to a reported mintage of some 360,000. While it is now known from the Royal Mint Annual Report that the total mintage for the issue was 360,180 pieces, all from 1920-dated dies and struck between January and June 1920, the number itself requires some contextualization to be fully appreciated. Most dates of the pre- and post-WWI era saw a mintage of at minimum 1 million+ coins across Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, increasingly concentrated at the latter. Numbers burgeoned to nearly 4 million in 1918, owing to wartime needs, with mintage of 1/2 Sovereigns halted as unneeded for commerce from 1917 onwards. By 1920, silver and gold prices had surged in the post-war years, hitting a peak in February of 127s 4d per ounce. As has been recently discussed in Howard Hodgson's article "The 1920 Sydney sovereign: A centenary in review," demand in 1920 had been focused much more on the coinage of pence and halfpence, and most of the 1920-S Sovereign's original mintage was melted alongside 105 million other Sovereigns in the late 1920's and early 1930's in the US and England. Though former scholarship supposed that the small handful of surviving examples were commissioned by prominent Sydney citizen Jacob Garrard (1846-1931) from the Mint for distribution to his seven children to celebrate his Golden Wedding Anniversary, Hodgson discusses that contemporary documentation records no formal order from Garrard, and that he more likely obtained them from the Commonwealth Bank to which the Sydney Mint delivered newly struck Sovereigns during the 1920s. As such, it is notable that the 1920-S represents what is perhaps the paramount rarity of the regular circulation Sovereign series, rather than a private order. Today, we have been able to trace the following additional specimens:
1) Spink Auction 90 (March 1992, Lot 438); Spink Australia Auction 2 (November 1978, Lot 631); A.H.F. Baldwin Collection
2) St. James's Auction 25 (March 2014, Lot 5); Monetarium, Australia to the George Collection by Private Treaty; Noble Numismatics Auction 50 (March 1996, Lot 1470)
3) The Bentley Collection specimen. Baldwin's Auction 76 (September 2012, Lot 736); Purchased by Winsor & Sons; Kurt Jaggard Monetary Auction Sale 2 (April 2006, Lot 404); Jaggards, Sydney Retail List (February 1979)
4) MDC Monaco Auction 7 (June 2021, Lot 123); Quartermaster Collection (Monetarium, Australia June 2009, Lot 196); Paul Terry Collection, sold by Monetarium, Australia to Tom Hadley (Quartermaster) in 1992 by Private Treaty; R. Jaggard Collection (sold by private treaty in 1989). Certified SP66 by PCGS.
5) The National Coin Collection, Royal Australian Mint specimen. Ex. Melbourne Mint. Prominently scuffed on the reverse with numerous edge dings.
This particular representative was held by Jacob Garrard's descendants for the last 100+ years, and hence represents a fresh addition to the known census not previously available for public auction. As such, we can hardly stress the importance of the present opportunity enough! From the Regent Collection
https://coins.ha.com/itm/australia/australia-george-v-gold-sovereign-1920-s-ms64-ngc-/a/3099-30154.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3099-05052022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 400000-500000 USD