1922 Sydney Sovereign PCGS MS62

By the mid-1920s, gold coin was no longer used in daily commerce, but while “housewives” no longer had “a few sovereigns to jingle in her pocket” (paraphrasing the founders of the Commonwealth Bank), gold sovereigns were still required as part of Australia’s national reserves, and also to nominally back the issue of Australia’s paper currency. In practice, this meant that the coins manufactured at Australia’s three mints were stored in the Treasury’s vaults, where they were only drawn upon to settle international debts. (Banks were at this stage clearing their daily settlements in notes instead of gold, and Treasury was actively discouraging banks from holding physical gold coin.) Gold coin that was exported was often melted, while surplus gold coin held by Treasury after the collapse of the gold standard in 1932 was converted to bars. These mass meltings of our gold coin holdings instantly created a plethora of numismatic rarities, rarities that would be in the decades to come prized by collector and investor alike. One such rarity is the Sydney mint sovereign of 1922. Five-hundred and seventy-eight thousand pieces were minted, but most were melted down or otherwise destroyed. Today, only a tiny handful exist (perhaps only dozens), and the date is one of the most coveted rarities in the George V sovereign series, as rare as or rarer than the 1917 London sovereign. The example on offer to here is one of six pieces we’ve handled since 2008, and one of the nicer examples to appear on the market in recent times. PCGS has graded just eight examples, of which this piece is one, while NGC has not graded any! The coin on offer here is graded a humble MS62, but has the appearance of a better coin. Its fields are generally free from detracting marks or abrasions, while the rims are sharp. The lustre is unbroken, as you’d expect on a Mint State coin. Overall, if you’re looking to build a complete or nearly complete set of Australian sovereigns, or are just seeking a prestigious trophy specimen for your type set, this is your coin. 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).