1908 Ottawa Specimen Sovereign PCGS SP64

There are a couple of rarities I keep an eye out for. Top pop Australian coins, colonial gold, and large milled English gold coins all catch my eye. Amongst this trove of numismatic treasures is one of my favourites: The 1908-C specimen sovereign. Rare in any grade and always superbly struck-up, the 1908-C sovereign was minted to commemorate the opening of the Royal Mint’s Ottawa branch. It is also Canada’s first home-grown sovereign, struck in superb specimen quality. The issue always looks good, with generally smooth, reflective fields, a proof-like depth of strike, and a clear, bold “C” mintmark that can be seen without a glass. Even the few examples that somehow escaped into circulation retain a lovely satiny sheen in the unexposed areas. The coin photographed above is only my fourth example in stock since 2008, and is one of the nicest I’ve seen generally. Its fields are free from marks or spots, while the obverse has only the lightest hairlines and die polishing marks. Always popular with sovereign collectors all around the world, the issue has a low mintage of only 636 pieces, according to the Charlton, while the number of examples in SP62 or better (considered the minimum acceptable grade by many collectors) is smaller by magnitudes. Very desirable this nice. Professional Coin Grading Service is the global leader in coin authentication and grading. With over 60 million coins graded and counting, PCGS is trusted by collectors, dealers, and investors to certify authenticity, protect value, and elevate market confidence. This is a direct conversion of the 70-point PCGS grade to a 10-point scale, intended to present the grade in a more intuitive format for newer collectors. It is not our personal opinion or an attempt at regrading the coin to a different standard. To understand how the 70-point scale converts to a 10-point scale, [click here](https://drakesterling.com/en/page/the-ten-point-coin-grading-scale). There are a couple of rarities I keep an eye out for. Top pop Australian coins, colonial gold, and large milled English gold coins all catch my eye. Amongst this trove of numismatic treasures is one of my favourites: The 1908-C specimen sovereign. Rare in any grade and always superbly struck-up, the 1908-C sovereign was minted to commemorate the opening of the Royal Mint’s Ottawa branch. It is also Canada’s first home-grown sovereign, struck in superb specimen quality. The issue always looks good, with generally smooth, reflective fields, a proof-like depth of strike, and a clear, bold “C” mintmark that can be seen without a glass. Even the few examples that somehow escaped into circulation retain a lovely satiny sheen in the unexposed areas. The coin photographed above is only my fourth example in stock since 2008, and is one of the nicest I’ve seen generally. Its fields are free from marks or spots, while the obverse has only the lightest hairlines and die polishing marks. Always popular with sovereign collectors all around the world, the issue has a low mintage of only 636 pieces, according to the Charlton, while the number of examples in SP62 or better (considered the minimum acceptable grade by many collectors) is smaller by magnitudes. Very desirable this nice.