George V gold Sovereign 1917 MS63 PCGS, KM820, S-3996, Marsh-219 (R5). Among the great rarities of the Sovereign series, this type was not always as elusive as it is today. Unlike other rare Sovereigns, such as the 1819 and 1920-S (both of which always existed in extremely limited numbers), the mintage of 1917 Sovereigns actually exceeded one million. Unfortunately, almost the entirety of this number were retained by the Bank of England, and later exported to Fort Knox after WWI as payment for accrued war debts to the US. After the passing of the Gold Reserve Act in January 1934 (the same act which created such a rarity in the US Double Eagle of 1933), all the 1917 Sovereigns held in the US were melted down and re-barred, leaving just a handful in existence. Just 41 examples of this rarity have been graded by either NGC or PCGS, with our current specimen bested by only 7, making this a highly anticipated offering for Sovereign collector. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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