The Chris Harrington Gold Coin Collection : Signature Sales
The Chris Harrington Gold Coin Collection
Chris started collecting in the late 90’s. He became more and more passionate about coin collecting and gained a great amount of knowledge over the years as he was never afraid to talk to dealers and graders and learn from their experience. Initially he saw it as an investment but as time went on he became more and more interested in the history and the mintages of the coins. Chris mostly focused on Victorian sovereigns with the intention of getting one of each of the sovereigns minted in each year, he later extended his interest to later sovereigns and also other gold such as the 1oz Australian Kangaroo nuggets, where again he tried to collect one from each year (he had 2007 to 2022 before he died).
Chris used to buy from eBay and dealers, but had a particular affection for London Coins and their grading company CGS and had many of the more valuable and rare coins graded with the Coin Grading Service. He became very good at being able to grade coins himself and constantly was upgrading the quality of each of his coins trying to get as close to extremely fine as possible, he also knew the mintages of each of his coins. Chris was a regular at the Midland Coin Fair at the motorcycle museum near Birmingham and became very familiar with many of the dealers and became quite well known there, it was at the MSCF he met Stephen and Semra of London Coins. Chris would also buy remotely though places such as eBay, but also various dealers he had built relationships with here and overseas.
His remote buying was not free from frustration, sometimes when a coin arrived it was not of the quality the seller had indicated, Chris like most advanced collectors was very fussy about the quality of the coins he bought. He was also frustrated by the fact that he was being charged VAT and Duties on coins he bought and had many battles when he bought coins remotely. Chris was keen to get his estimation if the grading confirmed by experts and travelled to London Coins where he met Paul Redford who attributed and graded all CGS coins (50,000) as well as London Coins auction consignments. During the era where CGS published league tables (Set Registry) Chris’s collection was one of the finest recorded Sovereign collections by CGS.
Sovereign 1924SA Marsh 288, S.4004, GEF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, an extremely rare date with a tiny mintage of just 2660 pieces, very seldom offered in any grade, our archive database stretching back to 2003 shows that we have offered only 3 previous examples, Ex-Cheshire Collection (ticket no longer with the coin)
Sovereign 1886M Shield Reverse, Marsh 67, S.3854A, EF/GEF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60, one of the key rarities of the entire Melbourne series, rated R3 by Marsh/Hill, extreme rare and sought after, especially in high grades
Sovereign 1841 Marsh 24A, S.3852, Unbarred A's in GRATIA, Fine, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 25, Extremely rare and seldom offered, a date missing from many advanced Sovereign collections
Sovereign 1874 Shield Reverse, Marsh 58, S.3853B, Die Number 32, bold Good Fine, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 30, one of the key dates in the London Shield series and always in high demand. Extremely Rare and rated R4 by Marsh/Hill Note: Only four die numbers have been recorded for this date.
Sovereign 1879 Marsh 90, S.3856A EF, the reverse retaining some mint lustre, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, an extremely rare date, with a mintage of just 20,013 pieces, rated R3 by Marsh/Hill, high grade examples seldom offered and always sought after
Sovereign 1887M Young Head, Shield Reverse, Marsh 68, S.3854A, GEF/AU and lustrous, the reverse choice, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, an extremely rare Melbourne Shield type, rated R3 by Marsh/Hill, the rarity rating fully justified, surely
Sovereign 1839 Marsh 23, S.3852, VF/GVF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 40, an extremely rare date and always highly sought after, most example of this date occur in grades Fine and below, this a bold example the reverse in particular with good eye appeal
Sovereign 1913C Marsh 222, S.3997 GEF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, Rare with a mintage of just 3717 pieces, a much lower mintage than the 1916C coin which is rated at R2 by Marsh/Hill
Sovereign 1921S Marsh 281, S.4003 GEF/AU and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70, the reverse with touches of mint bloom in places, one of the many key date Sydney Mint Sovereigns in the George V series, always highly sought after in high grade
Sovereign 1924S Marsh 284, S.4003 GEF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70, one of a number of key Sydney dates in the George V series, all are very sought after
Sovereign 1928M Marsh 246, S.3999 GEF the reverse with touches of mint bloom, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, rated R2 by Marsh/Hill and rare in high grade
Sovereign 1843 Broken Second I in BRITANNIARUM the I missing it's top left serif and resembles a reversed 1, type as Marsh 26, S.3852, GVF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 55
Sovereign 1858 U over N in BRITANNIARUM, a most unusual overstrike with the diagonal bar and both lower serifs of the underlying N visible at the lower curve of the U, unlisted by Marsh/Hill or Spink, also there was no example in the Bentley Collection, type as Marsh 41, S.3852D, NVF/VF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 40, and worthy of further study for the Sovereign variety specialist
Sovereign 1887S Jubilee Head, First legend, with small, spread J.E.B. on truncation, Marsh 138A, S.3868A, DISH S2, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60, all Jubilee Head Sydney Sovereign Rare
Sovereign 1914C Marsh 223, S.3997 A/UNC and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70, Rare with a mintage of just 14,900 pieces, Ottawa Mint Sovereign always popular of the rare occasions we offer them
Sovereign 1919M Marsh 237, S.3999 GEF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, our archive database shows that we have only offered 2 examples since 2003, Listed as Scarce by Marsh/Hill, but in the light of those figures surely rarer than this, and possibly rare than catalogue values would indicate
Sovereign 1844 Broken Second I in BRITANNIARUM, the I missing it's top left serif and resembles a reversed 1, type as Marsh 27B, S.3852, VF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 50
Sovereign 1908C Satin Proof, Marsh 183, S.3970, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60, one of the classic rarities of the entire Sovereign series, always sought after and missing from many advanced Sovereign collections
Sovereign 1915P Marsh 254, S.4001, NEF/EF the reverse lustrous, listed as 'Common' by Marsh/Hill, examination of our archive database stretching back to 2003 indicates that this is only the third example we have offered
Sovereign 1916M Marsh 234, S.3999, EF, rated as 'Normal' by Marsh/Hill, examination of our archive database stretching back to 2003 shows that this is the first example we have offered
Sovereign 1871S George and the Dragon, WW buried in truncation, Horse with short tail, Large B.P. Marsh 110A, S.3858, GEF/EF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, the only year for the Large B.P. type
Sovereign 1919S Marsh 279, S.4003, GEF/EF and lustrous with some contact marks on the obverse, a rare and under-rated date, our archive database shows that we have only offered one previous example
Sovereign 1899P Marsh 171, S.3876, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, the first year of Sovereigns from the Perth Mint, Rare and always sought after
Sovereign 1931M Marsh 249, S.4000 EF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, rated as R2 by Marsh/Hill, one of only three Melbourne Mint dates bearing the George V Modified Effigy, all are rare and all are offered in this sale
Sovereign 1930M Marsh 248, S.4000, EF/GEF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70, rated R3 by Marsh/Hill, one of only three Melbourne Mint dates bearing the Modified Effigy, all are rare and all are offered in this sale.
Sovereign 1863 Roman 1 in date, No Die Number, Marsh 46B (listed as 1 over inverted 1), LCGS variety 04, S.3852D, VF the reverse slightly better, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 45, Rare, rated R2 by Marsh/Hill
Sovereign 1900P Marsh 172, S.3876 A/UNC in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 75 only the second year of minting at the Perth Mint, and one of only three dates for this type
Sovereign 1874S George and the Dragon, Marsh 113, S.3858A, EF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, listed as N (Normal) by Marsh/Hill but appears far less frequently than many other dates in the series
Sovereign 1916P Marsh 255, S.4001, GEF and lustrous, listed as scarce by Marsh/Hill, our archive database stretching back to 2003 shows that we have only previously offered 2 examples
Sovereign 1853 WW Raised on truncation, G of GRATIA tilts to the left, type as Marsh 36, S.3852C, LCGS Variety 06, EF and lustrous with some scratches to the reverse, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65
Sovereign 1861 Roman 1 in date struck over another Roman 1, the underlying figure bold, and so low that the base is within the border beads, with the top faint but visible around two-third of the way up the overpunched 1, variant on Marsh 44A, variant on S.3852D, LCGS Variety 07, a more dramatic overstrike than the example in the Bentley Collection, an eye-catching example of this rare type, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60
Sovereign 1881S George and the Dragon, WW buried in truncation, Horse with short tail, No BP in exergue, Marsh 118, S.3858D, GVF/NEF the reverse retaining some lustre, with some contact marks and small edge nicks
Sovereign 1874M Shield Reverse, 4 of date with lower part of serif joined to right of base, LCGS variety 06, type as Marsh 60, S.3857, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60
Numismatic Cover 1998 comprising Gold Sovereign 1981 UNC and set of 7x stamps, with 2x Royal Wedding issues 14p and 25p, with 5x 26p issues Memorial portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales, on the commemorative envelope of issue
RSS