Victoria 1887 Sovereign, with hooked spread J.E.B. DISH L3 - PCGS MS62

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 wider apart raised on truncation with hooked J and higher stops, 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 L3 R5; Hill 125B R5; Bull EGC 1321 R5; S.3866D).Some surface marks and hairlines both sides, has been graded and slabbed by PCGS as MS62 and unusual to find in the mint state levels of preservation.

PCGS Certification 627609.63/50451843.

This coin has been labelled as small wide JEB.

Calendar year mintage c.7,881

The Latin legends translates on obverse as "Victoria by the Grace of God, Queen of the Britain's, Defender of the Faith."

For further reading about the hooked J varieties of Jubilee Sovereigns see the "DISH" publication by David Iverson and edited by Steve Hill "The Jubilee Head Gold Sovereign 1887-1893" where it was revealed that only six obverse dies with hooked J were produced for the Sydney and Melbourne mints for 1887 and presumably for London too. This is the L3 variety with the J.E.B. quite spread across the letters and the stops. All are rare or even very rare and were produced as a smaller percentage of the overall mintage if equally divided gives circa 7,881 pieces struck.