Rare 1838 Victoria Gold Soveriegn

[Geoffb]

Good Morning 

I found my first gold coin yesterday whilst out metal detecting.

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with more information in terms of its value and scarcity etc.

I believe it’s the first year sovereign for Victoria and is quite rare.

any info would me much appreciated 

thanks 

[Scaffstacker]

Well done brother what a find regardless,

I haven’t got any details for you only that the shield backs are rarer and more sought after. 

[dicker]

Hi @Geoffb

I have highlighted the one I *think* you have (from my spreadsheet archive).  This is as you can see classed as Rare by Marsh and is the second year of Victoria Sovereign production.

If it is the one I have highlighted below, my guess is that it would go for north of GBP1500 at auction.  This is where I will be corrected by those with a better view of older Sov priced than I currently have. 🙂

 

[Richym99]

Spink offers values of £875 for fine condition, £1500 for very fine and £3500 for extremely fine conditions.  

[dicker]

4 minutes ago, Richym99 said:

Spink offers values of £875 for fine condition, £1500 for very fine and £3500 for extremely fine conditions.  

Thanks Richmy99!

[Richym99]

No worries. I found the " Coins of England and United Kingdom 2020" on Google Play Books a couple of weeks ago. Covers all coins issued up to decimalisation. The 2021 edition covers the post decimalisation era including all the RM special issues and sets. 

Very handy as a reference on the tablet. 

[Geoffb]

Thanks guys !! 👌

[Booky586]

Nice find!

A similar 1838 sovereign, but in better condition, sold at London auctions for £2500 in March this year:

https://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&auc=172&searchlot=1318&searchtype=2

 

[Allgoldcoins]

This is a great find one of the more sought after years, the condition looks to be Near Fine and probably worth around £800, these will go up in value quite sharply with grade, a slightly better one @VF will command £1500+  

[SidS]

A little history on these 1838s throws up a reason why they are harder to come by:

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1170352

In a nutshell a large quantity of newly minted sovereigns (104,960) were sent over as a donation for founding the Smithsonian institution. It's not certain if every coin was dated 1838, it's not hard to imagine that some 1837 might have been included (as they were still fairly new at this point). But most of the coins received were melted down, presumably re-minted into US gold coins.

[Geoffb]

Some good info mate 

thanks 

[Stuntman]

I agree with @Allgoldcoins assessment of grade - the obverse is Near Fine, the reverse a bit better.
Still a lovely thing to have found, and worth a very decent sum if you were to sell - or just keep it and enjoy being the custodian of a rare and sought-after piece of history 🙂

[Stuntman]

https://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&searchterm=1838+Sovereign&searchtype=1

Yours is in similar grade to the one that sold in Sep 2018 for £950.  Possibly yours is slightly worse, but that's the ballpark.

EDIT: having clicked on your original photos, your coin is definitely not in as good condition as the NF/F coin sold in Sep 2018 but it's still a rare and sought after coin, and its value at auction on any given day will be determined by whether you have 2 or more competing bidders.

If it were mine and I was selling, I'd probably set a reserve of £600 to £700 and be grateful for anything over and above that.