1871 St George Reverse Sovereign with large BP - PCGS MS63

Great Britain, 1871 St George Reverse Sovereign with large BP -

S-3856, with short tail and large BP. Although it doesn’t appear to be widely known, the large BP variety of this sovereign date is extremely rare, with only 6 graded by PCGS in Mint State. Compare that to the 89 small BP examples graded (11/20). Nevertheless, the catalogue value for each type is the same! Equal-third finest graded by PCGS and ex the Bentley Collection, May 2013, lot 1215.