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1870 Australian Sovereign TYPE II - Scarce
AU 58 - Beauty!!!

It has been said that how the modern sovereign came about can be traced back to the Napoleonic wars. During the colonial era, the sovereign was known as a guinea. After the war, Britain wanted to revive back their coinage system. The idea was to have the guinea be re-issued but with a new designed. That came about the birth of the Sovereign

Then in the 1850s, when the Sovereign became popular worldwide and the demand increased, another Mint was established in Sydney, Australia by the Royal Mint.

However, to safe guard themselves, Australia was given its own unique designs for both obverse and reverse. Reasons could be that that the London Mint feared that the Sydney Mint may not produced the “expected standard” set by the Royal Mint

However, the fear was gradually diminished and in 1866, the Sydney coins were declared legal tender in Great Britain In all, from 1855 to 1931, there were 9 different sovereigns produced for circulation. Each has its own unique design - on either the Obverse or the Reverse.

As for the early Australian Sovereigns, the first sovereign type was struck by the Sydney branch in 1855. The second sovereign type was produced between 1857 to 1870. Sharing the same reverse as the Type I coin, the obverse featured the young Queen Victoria with a Banksia wreath in her hair. However, both the type I and type II were later changed to reflect those of the Imperial sovereign design.

Both Type I and type II sovereigns are the most sought after by collectors all over the world because of their difference from the London Mint designs.

This 1870 Australian Sovereign has been classified as Scarce in AUNC and Very Scarce in UNC. Graded by NGC as AU 58, a tiny mark from being UNC
Nonetheless, a coin worthy to add to any collection of Gold Sovereigns.

Krause listed UNC as US$1600 and XF as US$650. Current price is AUD$2250. This is one of my collection

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