1890 Sydney Sovereign - PCGS MS61

Australia, 1890 Sydney Sovereign -

McD 180. This is the scarce Legend 1 obverse with the highest tip of Queen Victoria’s crown touching the denticles. (On the more common type, there is a space between the tip of the Queen’s crown and the denticles.) While there are no official mintage figures of the individual types of Jubilee heads, it is clear that the McD 180, as photographed above, is significantly scarcer than the normal type, which has the Legend 2 obverse. The coin is even rarer in Mint State: I have seen only one Mint State example in addition to the coin photographed above. That coin was graded MS62+. If you’re a sovereign variety collector, this is your coin. Catalogues $3,000 in UNC and $6,000 in Choice UNC in McDonald (2013) and £1,900 in UNC in Spink (2013). Very scarce.