1863 Gold Sovereign Victoria Young Head Shield - 827 Variety
In 1863, die numbers were introduced on the reverse of sovereigns. This was done to assist with production and quality control, and the practice continued on most London Mint sovereigns.
Also, a small quantity were issued with an obverse die number "827" in raised numerals on the truncation of the neck. These are rare, but exist in at least two varieties, the first without reverse die number, and the second with reverse die number 22.
We show one of each on this page.
Ingot Number
Although we have described the 827 as a "die number", we note the following:
Two versions of the '827' Sovereign are recorded, this coin referred to as the 'first variety' for the distinct lack of die number 22 below the shield on reverse, seen on the 'second variety'. It took almost a century for the '827' Sovereign to be discovered, first identified when just one example of the 'second variety' was found in the Hatton Hoard of gold found in October 1954 in Derbyshire, UK. This initial coin subsequently ended up in the British Museum Collection. The first variety has been listed as excessively rare (R6) in the Marsh book since 1980, and precious few more have appeared on the market since the turn of the millennium.
Much numismatic speculation over the significance of the '827' has ensued over the years, and the current understanding seems to lean towards the conclusion that it denotes a specific gold ingot that all of these '827' Sovereigns were minted from. According to an investigative article in the Spink Numismatic Circular of October 1977 by Royal Mint Curator G. P. Dyer, in November 1863 the Mint received a shipment of gold ingots from the Bank of England that proved to be unfit for coinage due to their brittle characteristics. Following experiments conducted at the Mint, a Memorandum was issued that proved "beyond cavil" that that the cause of brittleness was not the quality of copper used for alloying the gold but the presence in the gold of "pernicious metals of various kinds''. Per the Memorandum the brittle gold ingots were produced from a particular batch of scissel and scrap gold by Rothschild's refinery. It is known that experiments were run on two Rothschild's 200-ounce ingots with control numbers of 816 and 830 and it is possible, but not fully verified, that 827 was another of these ingots from the same batch. Whether this is indeed the case or not, the Royal Mint produced '827' coins that were promptly bagged and released to circulation, much in the same way as the somewhat less rare 1859 'Ansell' Sovereigns, and the story of the experiments was soon forgotten to men until rediscovered by the enthusiastic numismatic community 100 years later.
Gold Sovereigns - Victoria Young Head Shield Reverse
London Mint Only.
The US $ prices in the this table may be out of date due to currency fluctuations.
|
Date | Die # | Description | Marsh | Spink | Mintage | Grade | Stock | Price £ | Price $
| |
1863 | None | No Reverse Die Number, Obverse Die 827 | 46A, R6 | 3852F | 5,921,669* | VF / almost EF | Sold | £Ask | $Ask
| |
1863 | 22 | Reverse Die Number, Obverse Die 827 | 48A, R5 | 3853A | 5,921,669* | about VF | Sold | £Ask | $Ask
|
Key To Table
5,921,669* = Total mintage for date, including all varieties.
Die Numbers
Please see our die numbers page for more information about die numbers.
Type Coins
If you are not looking for a particular date, but want a nice example of this type of sovereign, you can order a "type coin". Just look at our list of dates, grades and prices. Select the price you wish to pay, and we will send you the best grade coin we have available for that price, with our choice of date.
We Buy Gold Sovereigns
Guarantee
All our coins are guaranteed genuine, and we try to grade reasonably conservatively. For customers ordering by post, we want you to be delighted when you receive your coin. We thrive on repeat business and recommendation.
Victoria Type Collection
|
|
|
