I'm Jim, and am rather new to the precious metals/coin world. I was gifted this coin on my wedding day, but know very little about it. Obviously a gold sovereign from 1887 - I think the Jubilee Head(?) I really have little idea as to its condition or value. This has sparked my interest in buying more gold coins, but frankly I don't know where to begin! :/ Source: Author's own
Sorry, I should have mentioned that. In the absence of a ruler with mm's marked on it, I am reduced to using a dodgy tape-measure... its approximately 36mm in diameter. (Give or take a mm).
I am not an expert on sovereigns, but if it's 36mm diameter, I have some bad news for you - it's not a sovereign The good news is that it's a "quintuple sovereign", and worth substantially more Someone more knowledgable about sovereigns than me will be able to tell you more!
Ha... you kinda made my stomach sink there for a second! Its quite weighty. I just threw it onto a kitchen scale and it weighs approx 40 grams.
I thought so - there's much more "white space" on yours than a regular sovereign. So yeah, that's a quintuple sovereign. 1887 was a good year for quintuple sovereigns (highest mintage). I'm not an expert on pricing but yours seems to be in reasonably good nick so at an absolute minimum, take the spot price of a sovereign and multiply it by five.
Welcome, Jim. Sovereigns are a fun coin - lots to be learned, enormous variations in value. Rarities, key dates, different mints in all the old British Colonies. Here's a quick reference for mintages: http://www.goldsovereigns.co.uk/forsalevictoriajubileehead.html Here's a mint mark page: http://www.cruzis-coins.com/sovs/mintmark.html It looks to my untrained eye to be a London mintage. The fun thing is (as I believe Big AD) suspects, that it is too large to be a Sovereign. Using my Wiki-fu, there was a gold two-pound coin struck to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/1887twopounds.html But I think that what you have is the five-pound coin: http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/1887fivepounds.html Weighing it is proobably the next step. Be aware that there were a lot of fakes around - but it's looking good...
Thanks to you both, Big AD and hyphenated. Ive just reviewed those links and its very helpful, thanks! Given the weight and diameter of the coin and the negative space as mentioned by Big AD, it looks to be a 5 pound coin. I'll do a bit of reading on the fakes, just so I can look at key indicators. Cheers again.
Haha! It was a gift from a family member, so it's sentimental value is high. But heck I'm no fool, if its monetary value is right up there as well, I'm not one to complain.
I gave my friend two Perth Mint Lunar Dragon 1oz coins for his wedding, they were getting married in the year of the Dragon in Hong Kong and then Taiwan (long story), probably broke hundreds of ancient traditions and customs doing it but they fed me chicken soup with fish tripe in it so I figure we are even. Your family are way more generous (one of the dragons was a privy)
Thats a really nice gesture, Jislizard. I was married in the late 90s actually, and this coin (plus a silver coin of some variety which I can't find right now) have both been sitting in drawstring pouches in a box from that day until today.
I've another question... are the hard round transparent cases used for storing/presenting coins easy to obtain? If so, from where? I feel as if I should treat this with a little more finesse rather than have it sitting in a bag in a box.
Shoot Maggie a PM, she might have something suitable. Otherwise, Lighthouse do two-part clip cases, lots available on eBay in UK.
Have a really good look just above the 88 in the date and on the land. If you can see any resemblance to a "S" you have hit the jackpot. I don't think so but that "S" mint mark is an extremely rare coin. In saying that 5 pounds in 1887 was no small amount of money either. Based on that you would have limited numbers ever made, your coin seems to be in fair condition perhaps aEF, pictures are hard to grade on. There is a fair amount of wear on the high points, so I tend to think it was either stored badly originally 1887 ish or had a bit of trade, the flat areas look in good condition which makes me think storage rather than trade. It is a very nice gift that is for sure. Hope that adds a little more to the story PS - Always handle by the edges if you need to handle a coin as well. Keep in something that will not allow it to move around too much, so it has to fit well. NEVER CLEAN A COIN either
Hey Austacker... nah, the void above the 8 is empty. Its a London mintage by the looks of it. So how do I go about getting my coin graded for condition? Should I take it to a dealer to have it valued/appraised? Can anyone recommend one here centrally?
Send it to me and I'll get it graded at NGC for you if you want although 1. the coin is in good condition - it came from a set issued in 1887 for QV's 50th jubilee 2. Because there are a lot of graded examples about it may just be more a case of keeping safe and holding for the future... Nice chunky coin... Value right now between $1800-$3000 depending on who's buying & how keen they are, but as I say they're fairly common...
Thats a kind offer, thanks mate I have seen the Jubilee Head in various sizes, but I had no idea it was from a set(?) - thats fascinating. I spoke with a dealer here who looked at its condition. He said there is *slight* wear to one or two high points (George's shoulder & Vic's brow), and one *minute* ding to the rim (visible in pic 3), otherwise it is in excellent condition. His estimate was closer to the $3000 mark. I also like to use ebay "completed" listings as a rough indication of determining price based on identical items in similar condition. Many 1887 5 pounders (some in less desirable condition than mine) from the London mint have sold for $3K. This is comforting to know. Here are additional pics that I posted in the "Gold coin photo" thread the other day.
