1888 Queen Victoria Sovereign

Extremely Rare 1st Obverse. PCGS - About Uncirculated 53
Date:
1888
Type:
Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign
Mint:
London
Material:
22 Carat Gold
Diameter:
22mm
Weight:
7.98g
Quality:
PCGS - AU53
Spink:
3866
Marsh:
126 (R5)
DISH:
L8 (R5)
Status:
SOLD
Price:
PCGS Logo
Description:
First legend. G: distant from crown. 

I have only seen two other 1888 1st Obverse London mint sovereigns. One certified by PCGS at AU55 and another cleaned and in fine grade. I believe this is the second finest. Unfortunately the PCGS population report is misleading. It shows examples graded in Mint State. However these have been incorrectly recorded and are actually second obverse. Hopefully this will be corrected soon. Make no mistake this is an extremely rare sovereign.

David Iverson estimates that the proportion of 'First Legend' gold sovereigns to 'Second Legend' gold sovereigns for the Royal Mint London dated 1888 to be a fraction of 1%. David states since the DISH publication was released indicating the rarity as R5, it is now thought that it would be more accurate to call this variety Rarity 6 (3 or 4 examples known to exist).