Victoria 1887 Sovereign, Jubilee, hooked J initials, DISH L4 = R5, MS61

Victoria (1837-1901), gold Sovereign, 1887, London, Tower Hill Mint, Golden Jubilee style bust facing left, small crown and veil on head, pearl earring and 13 pearl necklace, J.E.B. initials very close together raised on truncation with hooked J, initials of engraver J Edgar Boehm, first abbreviated Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, VICTORIA D:G: BRITT: REG: F:D:,rev.struck en medaille, St George and dragon right, horse with short tail, broken lance to left on ground-line, tiny WWP under lance, initials of William Wellesley Pole, Master of Mint when design introduced, date in exergue, initials B.P to upper right, for engraver Benedetto Pistrucci, edge milled (DISH L4 R5; Marsh 125C R5; S.3866A).Toned with some light hairlines, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as MS61, extremely rare.

NGC certification 5840975-002.

We note currently that only 14 coins have been labelled as S.3866A at both grading services and six of these grade finer than this piece.

Mintage circa 7,881.

The mintage is a mean average applied across each of the four known hooked J varieties of 1887 London.

This coin is most similar to variety DISH L1 but the J.E.B. initials are even closer together. Again, like DISH L2 and L3, the difference between L1 and L4 is very slight and subtle, but they clearly are different being from different dies. Once again, like the two previous coins, this is extremely rare.