George V (1910-1936). Sovereign, SPECIMEN (SP) 1920 (or 1926) mint, Sydney.

PCGS SP66 (32696314).

Av. GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT. OMN. F. D. IND. IMP. Bare head left; below signature B. M.

Rv. Saint George slaying the dragon; below signature B.P.; (workshop) on ground line and exergue (date).

S.4003 - KM.29 - Fr.38 - Australian Coins and Banknote, March 2021, pp.26-31 ; Gold - 7,98 g - 22 mm - 12 h

Top pop: this is the only graded example and the finest of the 4 known! From the Quartermaster Collection, Monetarium (Australia) Pty. Ltd, June 4, 2009, No. 196 (AU$800,000 + fees), and previously from the Paul Terry and R. Jaggard Collection in 1989.

PCGS SP66 (32696314).

Special strike (SP) or SPECIMEN. Virtually in mint condition, the fields barely matified by handling marks and the minting velvet only faded at the highest points of the relief. Extremely rare! Fleur de coin.

This is the rarest of the Sovereign series, even rarer than the 1819 London Sovereign, of which only 10 to 12 examples are known to exist. Our example, from the Quartermaster collection of 2009, is the finest specimen known, in SPECIMEN mint. Howard Hodgson (Australian Coins and Banknote, March 2021, pp.26-31) has invalidated a hypothesis that it may have been struck in 1926 in London from Australian coins. Gold prices at the end of the First World War led to the cessation of sovereign production in London in 1917, Ottawa in 1919, Bombay in 1918 and their suspension in South Africa and Australia. However, 360,180 were minted in Sydney in January 1920. This extremely rare mint seems to have been withdrawn by Jacob Garrard (1846-1931) from the Commonwealth Bank in 1920; the other examples were certainly subsequently melted down. Traditionally, it is thought that he would have distributed a few copies to his children and/or grandchildren on his wedding anniversary of April 15, 1920, or in 1930. Only 4 examples are known today, this one being the finest.