1489, 1492, 1838, 2017 - plus a quiz 0

[Zebo]

 

In April, a 1492 Sovereign, King Henry VII, went to auction in Japan. NGC sent out a nice information notice about this coin.  If I recall correctly, there are only two of these in private hands. The sovereign (below) is the earliest sovereign that a private collector can own. It is a type II. The first sovereign minted, type I, was hammered in 1489 and only a single example is known. This sovereign was acquired by the British museum in 1915, I believe, and has been in their collection ever since.

What caught my eye about the 1492 offering is that J.P. Morgan once owned it. What didn’t the guy own at one time or another?

 

There are five distinct types, or issues , that were struck during Henry VII reign. Each being quite different than the others. 

 

There is no other coin in the world that has ever had the history, the influence, or the length of time it has been issued - than the sovereign. It is also the only coin that has been struck on five continents. 

 

A type set that includes all of the different monarchs that issued sovereigns would be an amazing collection. 
 

the two hammered sovereigns are a type II and a type III.

 

As a bonus quiz: on the Queen Victoria sovereign imaged below, what is the significance of the two dates 1838 and 2017? Answer will be provide, although I am sure some of you know this already, later.

 

[RWB]

By strict accounting most sovereigns were gold tokens, not coins. They bore no denomination.

[Zebo]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:40 AM, RWB said:

By strict accounting most sovereigns were gold tokens, not coins. They bore no denomination.

Sovereigns did circulate and were used for debts and payments and depending upon the time frame, they were worth so many shillings and the like (talking about the great recoinage of 1816 timeframe - not the hammered stuff). Debasement did take its toll from time to time. Universal acceptance - maybe not at first, but as the empire grew. Legal tender with a nominal value now.

  The early sovereigns have their own history. 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Zebo
For clarity

[Zebo]

That’s an interesting observation Roger. A sovereign is a weird duck. A token in its infancy, a coin as a teen, and bullion as an adult. I’ve never really thought about it that way. Something that also has survived before, during and after the gold standard. 
 

[Just Bob]

On 5/11/2022 at 6:14 AM, Zebo said:

 

In April, a 1492 Sovereign, King Henry VII, went to auction in Japan. NGC sent out a nice information notice about this coin.

 

 

 

What was the hammer price? Did you bid?

[Zebo]

On 5/15/2022 at 10:19 PM, Just Bob said:

What was the hammer price? Did you bid?

It sold for approximately $810,074 USD (with juice?) I did not bid.