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You don't see a lot of Machins in general bullion circulation in my experience. I recently got a handful in and they flew out again so fast I made a note to put up prices a bit higher next time! When you compare the official mintages (whether these are to be trusted or not I know not) there are around 37 million for the Machin portrait compared to 315 million of George V, and while more of the GVs will by now have been melted down, I'm sure they still vastly outnumber the Machins. Until recently I assumed the portrait by Arnold Machin was the same as his portrait on the stamp (the most reproduced artwork in history), but in fact they are distinctly different, not least as the portraits face different directions! I prefer the Machin portrait to the Gillick portrait, which I find a bit "soft", but not sure if that's down to the engraving or the strike.

Afternoon! I am by no means an expert on branch mint halves! I have consider branching out (forgive the pun) to collect these little beauties but stopped myself because I need to first complete my London coins first! However, I can answer some points below. First though, I must admit that I have the fairly easy to come by 1925 and 1926 SA halves. Two recent versions in beautiful condition were sent to PCGS for restoration last month so can update on those if there is interest! So I have already started to not just think outside of London….. As for the 1897 Sydney, this is what I can see from my books and other brief research: 1. Marsh First Edition (see pic) confirms ‘Not known’. Published in 1982. 2. Marsh Second Edition (see pic) confirms ‘Not known’. Published 2004. 3. Marsh/Hill ‘The Gold Sovereign’ (see pic) confirms three possible versions 503, 503A and 503B (Proof). Published 2021. So, as is the case with all research combined with societal and technological changes making obtaining and reviewing coins easier - more is being discovered. The 2021 Marsh/Hill is the place to concentrate and first check which coin it is that you have. You may also want to get some high resolution pics taken so someone can count the denticles!! If you can post pics we can have a look and see whether it’s a 503, 503A or 503B (incidentally, these are just the Marsh references for the coins). Cheers, Andrew.

I have the Michael Marsh book and often look at a few different resources for info on sovereigns, but it often involves a lot of flicking through pages and Google searches etc to find the info I'm looking for. Also I found it hard to keep track of the info when it is spread across several pages, e.g. comparing mintages from different branches for a given year. I thought it would be useful to have the information displayed graphically as a kind of "overview" with the main info at a glance. Such a resource may well already exist but I thought I would make one for my own use anyway and learn while I'm doing it. Then I thought why not share it with the community for feedback, input and ideally to be a help to others. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/156gWOBDS2n4f7P3ChMSJNIOgSnjLYqZxQuWv0mGCwYw/edit?usp=sharing The spreadsheet concentrates on changes in design (e.g. portraits and different reverses and mint marks) but ignores minor varieties etc. All the mintage figures are as per Marsh. Mints are colour coded. I will move on to proofs, halfs, doubles and £5s in time. Let me know of any errors or any comments and suggestions please 😄 Please could I request members not to share this link beyond the community right now.

Well I wasn’t happy with the ms63 grade on my 1)23 double…..so I sent it back to be reconsidered it should have been prooflike & now ngc have moved it to reflect this. I did get another 1823 which I’ve attached images of aswell. It looks prooflike and should improve on the ms63pl any views?

Hi all, I wonder if any of you could help or advise regarding these two 1880 Sydney mint sovereigns. Which of the two would you say is the better and those who have more experience with grading, how might you ‘approximate’ how they’d grade. There are just two coins despite the numerous photos, the same coin is on the left in all photos and the same coin on the right. Thanks.

I rarely buy raw coins because I have no eye for grading....I am of no help...........

I don't know a great deal about grading but if I were choosing what I thought was the nicest coin based on the pics I'd go left. Sorry I can't help with an actual grade though, beautiful coins mate.

good luck............

It didn’t cross. Gutted. I think the ‘+’ ones are always difficult to assess. Def a 66, but as I already have a PCGS in 66 this one will be off to auction!

The batch I sent to PCGS came back on Friday. This one ended up with a designation of AU50 as a Sydney coin!! Oh well! It will be in the next Coin Cabinet auction!

I guess it depends if it's for collecting or resale then, as others have highlighted generally we want to see beautiful specimens!

Thanks for your reply! Almost everyone says that it's just a die crack, so I guess it is. I'm happy that I also learned something new about the history of the gold sovereign 😄

I have had worse and sold for that price...........but this one seems to be unavailable................good luck

Same it's too worn it would not be for me

Is that what a die crack looks like? 🤔

Regarding half sovereigns, according to Marsh, 1982 was the only year that normal halfs were minted with the Machin portrait. There were 2.5million minted in 1982 compared to over 90 million minted between 1893 and 1915!

I personally wouldn't have a coin that worn in my collection for any reason, unless it was of a rarity of R6/R7 perhaps.

There is a difference between cleaned and polished. Cleaned usually means it has been wiped leaving parallel scratch lines. Anything more drastic is usually obvious and they will also use the designation "harshly cleaned" if it has been dipped in something caustic. A polished coin is usually obvious if you are used to looking at "clean" struck sovereigns. You can clearly see this effect in the second last photo above. Coins that have spent some time as a pendant will often have this polished effect and the fine detail is usually rubbed smooth.

Hi Folks. As a bullion stacker I'm relatively new to the idea of proof coins but interested in picking up something from 1989. I'm not keen on slabs and boxes etc generally What is a fair ballpark price for £2 double sovereign from 1989 ungraded as seen in the pics? It has box and coa included. Looking at eBay and the Coin Archives site prices seem to go from about £1300 upwards? Thanks

If they look as though they have a fair chance of grading 70 then £1500+ is reasonable.

I don't take much notice in post-Gillick sovereigns but I would say you are probably right, I don't think they appear as often. Regarding bullion sovereign mintages you see quoted, they seem to be totally inaccurate.

Doubles don't often sell for much more than spot I don't think, though this year and a few others would be clear exceptions. I guess yes it would be the best value way to get the date into your collection, but then is your collection going to be doubles? 🙂

Nothing changed for me since Brexit, maybe for Paris yes but for US things have always been the same. I agree with turnaround times in general but that's because the market has grown in the last 2 years and the businesses need more time to grow, which they are every day.

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone here talks directly with anyone higher up at NGC that would be able to assist in some form of partnership with us for usage of the reference? We have something in place with PCGS already, so it would be great to cover both grading bodies.

I think this can be done only in us headquarters. I will try and help and see what i can do.

I should add that you can always contact Steve Hill at Sovereign Rarities or Eric Eigner at Drake Sterling (who will absolutely want to know about this Sydney coin, I suspect!). Both are proper experts (unlike me!!) and both have also been incredibly generous with their time with me previously when I had a pretty big discovery that I wanted to check in with them about (Marsh 480A - recorded in 2021 as R7 but now thought to be R5).

https://auction.royalmint.com/auctions/catalog/id/23 Is this just another gimmick by the RM? Curious as to how they differ if at all from normal strikes, does anyone know more? I imagine they could just be selling bullion as trial pieces knowing them! 😄

I wouldn't like to go down the route of crossing from one to t'other, I have heard too many stories of strange decisions that suggests there are politics at work in both camps.

@Shaun Just a thought, is it possible for members to have their own referral link to invite people to the forum? If so could a “founding member” badge be then added to their profile? It could be awarded to any member who has say 10 inbound referrals through their link?Could run for 6months or a year… It might not be possible but add’s a little incentive. I think FB groups have a similar idea after that it could be something we could run competitions and other awards on or points gained for referrals of referral's etc…

@Mike does sound like a really good idea but don't think that is a core feature, I will check the marketplace.