BRIAN GREER

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

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

I have received literally hundreds of coins from all over the world and by many services. my favorite services from the UK to the US are first ROYAL MAIL and secondly DHL.........I dislike FEDX and hate UPS. bye the way.......I am in the western US...........

ok...I think I understand the problem better...............first I am no expert on old stuff.....my interest is in Elizabeth II primarily. as I read Marsh, now that I think I understand your question, it is more complex than I thought and you have just cause to question...I was certainly wrong and incomplete in what I wrote. if you have received the graded coin, did it have research documentation in the package...??? if not, and you want to pursue this, you can provide more documentation and challenge the certification(I have had to do it twice and now have a third to send for reconsideration). am I right that the worth of the coin is at stake...an S or an R2...??? I guess I am, in the end, no help..............I look forward to the resolution. Eric at drake sterling in australia is pretty good with sovereign problems. again, sorry for underestimating the problem. Brian

I assume you are using the MARSH second revised edition 2021...???

I did read the thread before responding............your pictures are great....the problem simple......it is a Sydney without doubt. google sovereign mint marks and you will find some really good explanations on mint marks. it does not matter if we make a mistake in the descriptions in our submissions......almost always the graders will correct us at some point in the review process...........

this situation happens frequently in submissions received in dec-feb of recent years due to demand for certifications. the demand is growing faster than the company has been able to employ new qualified graders. being a dedicated gold sovereign collector, I have turn around time problems every dec................so I simply call customer services. usually the agent can determine the status of my submission. when it seems stuck for some reason the agent can shake up things a bit and get the submission moving..........usually everything is ok and i just have to wait.................................................I suspect that non-US coin submissions get stuck more frequently, but I don't that for sure. I have good relations with the PCGS registry(nice people)..........NGC registry people are more difficult...............both companies have excellent customer service agents. dealers from outside the US have told me that long wait times are the rule, so they call or email asking for a status report.......(remember the shipping, to and from, accounts for 6 weeks or so of the wait. and don't forget to check your registry account. it usually get a status report, as much as it is...........................

if it has a mint mark it is not a London struck coin...in other words, on London struck sovereigns there is no mint mark....and...you will never find a die number where the mint mark goes...therefore this coin is not a London struck coin....... since the mint marks looks like a 5 it must be a Sydney since that is the only mint mark that might be confused with a 5......................

take it to your local refiner to check metal content...I doubt that it is counterfeit........but even if it is and the metal content is correct you can sell it with explanation for at least melt.....there are a ton of counterfeit gold sovereigns................USDOD bought 50000 of them for special opps during the first Iraqi war....after the war of, those that were returned to DOD about 1/3 of them were counterfeit...............since most counterfeit sovereigns contain the correct amount of metals few coin people care...they just sell them...................the reason why the counterfeits are so perfect in most ways is because the counterfeiters are just laundering their illegal gold into the system..................good luck

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

hello..........I am Brian from the colonies(Las Vegas, Nevada).................I have been collecting since 2017................I am a member of both PCGS and NGC registries..................I have found the PCGS people and registry system to be more responsive and open to the desires of the customer and a joy to work with...................on the other hand the NGC registry is simpler and therefore easier to use, but limited.....and the hired help less capable if not rude nor in some cases even aware of what collectors want or need.........................of course the available work forces are very different....Florida is less educated and California more educated........it is hard to find new employees either place..................as you may have noted a PCGS PR69 is many times going to be a NGC PF70.........certainly not for sure................I "feel" that the PCGS grading standards are a bit higher than the NGC but both are certainly higher and more accurate than my poor abilities............the rule thumb seems to be never cross over an NGC slab to PCGS because you may loose a grade. as I mentioned, I collect both.........but only Queen Elizabeth II gold sovereigns............the NGCs tend to cost less and the PCGSs cost more........and in many years the the NGC slabs are more available..................there are simply more coins graded by NGC...(supply and demand)...so some NGC slabs are dirt...like the 2013-I...it is hard to sell one for much over spot...and the same for 1918-i even though so many want to say that it is "Rare"...it is not. in the end both companies do the best they can given their respective situations.......both growing like mad and having to contend with work force problems have a good day Brian