A 1908-C gold specimen sovereign is expected to bring at least $12,000 US (about $15,325 Cdn.) at a Texas auction this May.
Certified as Specimen-64 by Professional Coin Grading Service, the Edward VII sovereign was one of 636 specimens struck at the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint for that year’s inaugural issue.
Engraved by British medallist George William de Saulles, it’s an “important issue, here seen in choice preservation, with balanced copper-gold lustre and crisp devices embellished with mint frost,” according to auctioneers.
Certified as Specimen-64 by Professional Coin Grading Service, the Edward VII sovereign was one of 636 specimens struck at the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint for that year’s inaugural issue.
Heritage Auctions will offer the coin as Lot 30174 of its May 5-7 “Central States” sale. As of April 25 – 10 days before the coin crosses the block – its current bid is $12,000 US. The Ottawa branch struck Canada’s sovereigns with varying mintages each year from 1908-19 (excluding 1912 and 1915).
The three-day Heritage sale will also feature the Regent Collection, which “represents the finest group of Australian rarities to come to market in years, if not ever,” according to Cristiano Bierrenbach, the firm’s executive vice-president of international numismatics.