1897-M Pattern Half Sovereign

The Old Head, also known as the Veiled Head, offers only one challenge to date set collectors, the 1893 Melbourne, the rarest circulation half sovereign with only 5 known examples, 2 in the Royal Australian Mint Museum. Other than that, the series is readily available in all grades up to AU with some examples in

Mint state

A state of a coin that shows no signs of circulation

 

mint state or better turning up from time to time. A lot of the dates, in particular in AU, have reduced in value considerably since the Reserve Bank of Australia sale (Downies, 2005), which saw an oversupply of such dates reach the market. However, very few higher grade 1899 and 1900 Melbourne

Mint

a facility that produces coins

 

mint half sovereigns were offered yet their prices were brought down also by most catalogues indicating they are somewhat undervalued.

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