1890 Sydney Sovereign - PCGS MS62+

Australia, 1890 Sydney Sovereign -

McD 180. This is the scarce Legend type 1, where the tip of the Queen's crown overlaps the denticles. This is one of the finest examples of this type I have seen, with only the Quartermaster coin, which sold in 2009, appearing finer. (My estimate of its grade when I viewed it in 2009 was MS63). The Quartermaster coin sold for $4,853 with buyers premium, while Bentley specimen was described as Extremely Fine and was cleaned. The RBA sale in 2005, meanwhile, only had one 1890-S of this type and was described as “UNC”. That coin, seven years ago, sold for $3,150, while the lot that followed it, described as “aUNC”, sold for $2,940. The coin photographed above is genuinely rare, and a great example for the variety or type collector. Catalogues $4,950 in UNC and $9,250 in Choice UNC.