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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Queen Victoria Half Sovereign

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Expert: - 2/4/2011


Question
I have a Queen Victoria Half Soverign 1884 but without the M. It appears to be real gold. Is it authentic, I found it in my garden in the UK. Any information would be great.... Thanks

Kind Regards

Gail

Answer
Hi Gail,
Half sovereign for this year were made in Australia, with an M for Melbourne mint, and also in Britain without a mint mark. The designs are otherwise virtually identical.
So, there is no reason that this would not be a genuine gold coin. However, if it has wear or issues from being in the ground, it would only be worth gold bullion value.
Thanks for the question! =)

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Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

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Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

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A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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