Gold sovereign of George III

This coin was retrieved from a depth of two to three inches in a field that had been searched by Tyndall Jones on many previous occasions. This is another example of a good find turning up on an old site.

Tyndall’s find is a gold sovereign of George III and is dated 1820 on the obverse. It is a large date variety with a closed 2, which is scarcer than examples with an open 2 in the date.

Judging from its overall appearance, this sovereign must have been in very good condition when it was lost – probably in the 1820s. At the time it would have been equal to a couple of weeks wage for the average worker. However, most ordinary folk would never be in possession of a coin with such a high face value. Therefore, those rich enough to be carrying around a gold sovereign would have had enough wealth for the loss of a coin like this not to be an absolute disaster.

Unfortunately, the soil has not been kind to this coin. When lost it would have graded at least VF but both sides are now marred by scuffs and scratches. Tyndall has a 50-50 agreement with the owner of the land on which the coin was found so he needed a valuation. I gave a figure, which was far less that it would have been without the scuffs and scratches, and the landowner will receive 50% of it.

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