Saudi Arabia 4-sovereign gold disc. 0

[RWB]

Recently acquired this research piece to go with the 1-sovereign version. In the current draft die list, this one is --

Variety 1. Diagonal Lines in “D”

The letter “D” in Philadelphia has four prominent diagonal lines in the letter’s center. Several of these appear to be extension of lines outside of the letter. The textured field is the highest part of a working die, so the lines did not extend into the tops of letters. This variety represents about 30% of pieces offered by Stacks-Bowers and Heritage over the past 20 years.

Blanks for the four sovereign pieces were prepared in the New York Assay Office. These were shipped in two batches: 30,300 on May 24, 1945 and 60,780 on October 2, 1945.

Here's a detail of the D in Philadelphia with arrows indicating some of the diagnostic points.

This piece was graded "AU," however, it has well defined obverse detail and minimal contact damage to the reverse lettering. This combination is uncommon on these discs. This variety is also known from a cracked die (reverse, left of cartouche).

Edited Saturday at 11:53 PM by RWB

[RWB]

PS: I would have searched back further, but image quality was too poor to make reliable and consistent measurements across all die varieties.

[RWB]

A member asked, "How many die varieties are there of the 1- pound and 4-pound discs?"

At present, I've identified 6 (six) die varieties for the 4-sovereign discs. After additional examination, this might be reduced to 5 varieties; plus the one cracked die which is only a few of the #1 Variety.

The 1-sovereign pieces have yet to be separated by die varieties. I want to acquire good images of a larger universe of these pieces. That will improve the chances of identifying all the varieties.

For those who might wonder about relative values, I suspect there will be little difference from one variety to another. The real market adjustment will come when more collectors ignore the slab labels and seek discs with the best detail, and fewest marks on prominent areas....a lot like many other coin types. Right now the 4-sovereign pieces sell for about 1.7 times gold bullion. These discs did not circulate as money so all the "wear" is from shipping and counting house abrasion.

Edited Monday at 02:17 AM by RWB