George V 1918-P Half-Sovereign, Perth Mint, key date rarity PCGS MS62

Australia, George V (1910-36), gold Half-Sovereign, 1918, Perth Mint, bare head left, B.M. on truncation, Latin legend surrounding GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT: OMN: REX F.D. IND: IMP:, rev. St. George and dragon right, WWP under lance, Mint letter P at centre of ground-line, date in exergue, B.P. to upper right of exergue (Bull EGC 1902 R3; Hill 534; S.4008). Superb example of an exceptionally rare coin, toned and graded by NGC as MS62.

PCGS Certification 113155.62/48367103.

The Latin legends translates on obverse as "George the Fifth by the Grace of God, King of all the Britons, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."

The 1918 Perth Mint Half Sovereign has been an enigma for coin collectors for over a century. Initially, the 1918 Half Sovereign was intended to be a standard circulation issue coin, but the Commonwealth government decided to halt the production of it following a decision by the Pyx Jury in early 1918. The origin of this coin can be traced to a correspondence between the Deputy Masters of the Perth and Royal Mint in May 1920, which revealed that in 1919 and early 1920, several hundred Half Sovereigns were minted at the urgent request of the Commonwealth government. Because of the urgent nature of the order, there was no time to create new dies for those years, thus the 1918 dies were used instead. The exact number of coins minted is unknown, but only 23 have ever been certified by NGC and PCGS, making it one of the rarest coins in the sovereign series.

Provenance:

Ex Peh Family Collection, part I, Goldberg, 30^th January 2024, lot 1070.