Cozdred

Since a picture is worth a thousand words (maybe only 327 words after inflation) I'll show an example of 1891 Low Shield here. The difference is at the very bottom where the shield intercepts the date. Basically it comes down to how close the bottom tip of the shield gets to the rim, and how far apart the numerals in the date must be split apart. Here is a quick explanation I copied from a source for the difference and why it's so rare: "The reverse shield was lowered at some point after 1887 to improve metal flow. 1890 dated coins have a majority of the new lower shield. As the old high shield dies wear out and are replaced with the new lower shield dies, coins with the high shield become progressively rarer. According to David Iverson and Steve Hill in their publication ‘The Jubilee Gold Half Sovereign 1887-1893’ (Sovereign Rarities, 2019), all coins struck in 1891 are the lower shield type. In 1892, with production at 13.7 million coins, a small number of high shield coins exist, so old dies from 1887 production runs were used in 1892 to cover production gaps when necessary. However, with the relatively low mintage of 1891 the use of old dies seems unnecessary." One of the main reasons for the High Shield was to allow for the mintmark to be placed under it for coins minted in Australia. So all Australian Victoria Jubilee Head half-sovereigns are necessarily of the High Shield variety. I've also shown 1891-S (Sydney mint) High Shield as example. No mintmark appears on coins minted in London, and so after 1887 the vast majority are of the Low Shield variety.

Purchased this ungraded British gold 1/2 sovereign at an online auction in London on 22 Nov 2022. Not the prettiest looking coin, but still in decent condition. This particular variety is the 1891 High Shield, which is so rare that the most authoritative reference book (M Marsh & S Hill, The Gold Sovereign, 2021 edn) assigns it the highest possible rarity of R7, indicating that only one or two examples are thought to exist. In this case, at the time of publication they were not actually sure that any of these coins were really known, and so they did not assign any individual reference number to it. I'm delighted to now report that at least one example of this ultra-rare coin does indeed exist, and here it is!

Under the "Resources" tab, NGC Census, after I choose a particular country and denomination I would REALLY love to be able to click on any particular Year/Mint and have that open up a listing by certification number of the most recent 50 or 100 coins graded by NGC. I'm, extremely interested in varieties of 19th century world gold coins, and it would be so nice to be able to view most of them in one convenient location rather than having to visit the archives of so many auction houses and online dealers. So many rare varieties go completely un-noticed by owners when they submit coins for grading, and the graders never bother to inform them. Instead, the graders just label the coin as listed on the submission sheet. The NGC census is full of rare varieties that have never been correctly identified and attributed, which is very unfortunate. James

My experience is that custom sets only seem to be visited if they are near the top of a particular category. Since sets get bumped up when they are updated, the best way to get views is to routinely update, either by adding new coins or editing comments, etc. Having a catchy title also draws attention, but again only if the set is near the top of the list where people see it immediately when opening a category. James

I would like to see NGC add the ability for viewers to leave comments / messages on individual competitive sets in the registry. PCGS set registry allows this, and it's a very nice feature. There've been several times that I've looked at someone's set and wished I could leave a comment, but no ability to do so. This happens most often after I read an owner's personal comments about one of their coins, and I have an extra detail to add. Or perhaps I'd like more details about some feature of their collection. I think quite a few people would like this ability, so I hope NGC will consider it. James

Not sure where to post this. I recently acquired an NGC graded Australian sovereign that is an ultra-rare variety, "1888M AUSTRALIA 1SOV S-3867A D:G: FAR". Marsh R4, less than 20 thought to exist. But the system would not let me add this to any set. So I clicked on the "Add Coin to Sets" button, and filled everything out down to what sets to add the coin to. There are actually 6 current sets that this would fit in. One set was listed, and there was a box to type in the name of one of my other sets. I chose Australia - Pre-Decimal Gold Sovereign Type Set, 1855-1931, Circulation Issue I then submitted the request. But when I went back to look at my set, it was partially wiped out!! Three slots for which I previously had coins listed were now blank, and it said I have no eligible coins! This is a MASSIVE ERROR!!!! Who do I report this to, and how do I get it corrected?

I really wish that PCGS graded coins would be allowed in competitive world sets as they are in US sets. One of my very best sovereigns (1865 MS62) is locked out, so I'm forced to make a custom set instead in order to display it.