1879 Sydney St George Reverse Sovereign - PCGS MS62

Australia, 1879 Sydney St George Reverse Sovereign -

The 1879 Sydney St George reverse sovereign has always had an allure. Even in the earliest coin price guides, the date has always been priced higher than the average St George reverse young head sovereign. (In 1980, it was priced at $175 in UNC, while the more common dates in the series were priced at a more modest $155.) What the market knew anecdotally in the 1980s and 1990s was proven numerically in the 2000s after PCGS started grading Australian sovereigns more regularly: As the population report filled out, it became clear that the 1879 Sydney St George sovereign was indeed a scarcer date, not as rare as some of the earlier dates (like the 1871-S and 1872-M), but certainly rarer than any coin in the second half of the series. The example on offer here is better than what one sees on the market generally, being graded by PCGS at MS62. It is one of the nicer examples of this date to appear on the market for some time, and once belonged to a northwest Sydney collection that also housed a Mint State 1855 Sydney Mint sovereign. Catalogues $5,000 in UNC in the latest Renniks.