AUSTRALIA HALF- SOVEREIGNS. 1893M QV Old head gold Half Sovereign. Lustrous. Graded PCGS aU 58. The rarest date Half Sovereign, only 3 examples have been graded by PCGS & this is the highest grade. Ren cat $100,000 in EF, not priced in higher grade as no coins above this grade were known to the editors of the catalogue. One of the true rarities of Australian numismatics. Another example of this coin graded NGC AU58 was offered in Baldwin’s 2019 Auction 36, Lot 75, . Estimate US $110,000 - US$125,000 (Approximately A$145,000 – A$170,000) The extensive description with acknowledgement to Baldwin’s of St James was as follows This delightful coin ranks as one of the most important gold pieces struck in Australia. Mintage figures given for the entire 'issue' date are 110,024 pieces, including 24 proofs. Those statistics may be misleading, as explained below. The SCBC (Spink) book provides no details other than saying it is extremely rare, in any condition. Value estimates in the Australian references for the great rarities must be, by necessity, approximations based on past sales. The most important rarities, such as the half sovereign in this lot, appear for sale with decreasing frequency and are more keenly sought than ever by the top collectors. All others look and wish, but at least all collectors now have the opportunity to see these coins in colour and in detail on the Internet. The 1893 half sovereign, minted from native ore at Melbourne, seems to have been the subject of vast meltings in past times, no doubt including the massive melt of 1931-32 by the Royal Mint, which at that time turned more than £90 million worth of gold coins, from all British mints, into gold bars as a more convenient form of storage for the Bank of England. No one paid attention in the least to the dates and mintmarks on those destroyed coins. The other source of destruction was the common practice of jewellers around the world of melting coins such as this, made of nearly pure gold, in order to make rings and other sorts of ornaments. The consequence was the inadvertent creation of a number of numismatic rarities. More broadly speaking, a major depression occurred in the Australian colony in the 1890s, 1893 being the worst year. Many banks were forced to close, some permanently. A consequence of those bad times was that no half sovereigns were minted at Melbourne from 1888-1895, with the exception of 1893. Because of this lapse, it is believed that the 1893 mintage of 110,000 half sovereigns in that year were mostly, or perhaps all, coins of the Jubilee Head style – the last obverse die at the mint being of that type, and the Veiled Head not introduced until 1893. It remains a mystery why the 1893 Melbourne half sovereigns with the Veiled Head exist, but clearly they do! It is currently estimated that as few as 5 are known to exist, as well as one verified proof of the original supposedly 24 pieces made. Almost all of the survivors of this issue are well worn, grading fine or even lower. Three of those were recently discovered in the Reserve Bank of Australia and were sold in 2005. Based on present knowledge, this little gold coin appears to be the rarest of all gold coins bearing Australian mintmarks. The presently offered specimen is believed to be the finest known example of this great rarity from the end of Queen Victoria's reign. Comparing this coin to another major Australian gold rarity, the 1920 sovereign struck at Sydney, it becomes clear that the 1893 Melbourne half sovereign is relatively undervalued. Nine 1920 Sydney sovereigns are known to exist in collectors' hands, the last sale being in the 2013 Baldwin's auction of the Bentley Collection, that coin selling for £780,000. But only about half as many Veiled Head half sovereigns of 1893 minted at Melbourne appear to exist. This coin was not sold.. Subsequent to this listing, the numbers extant for both coins has increased by 2 or 3 of each. Comparison of this lot on offer with the photo of Baldwin’s example clearly shows this is a much superior coin and is without doubt the finest known.

Estimate: AUD 120000