The third date in the series of crenulated reverse Sydney Mint half sovereigns is the 1883 Sydney. There is a confirmed
proof or specimen example of this type and the issue was struck from two distinguishable
dies
. One fresh
die
for the year, and one worn
die
, possibly re-used from either 1880 or 1881. Interestingly, the strongest struck examples of the 1883 worn die seem to be
in a far worse state than the worst 1880 or 1881 examples which would seem to indicate that further coins were struck between
1881 and 1883, possibly dated 1882 though none have turned up. It is possible, that if they were struck that the low survival
rates of the era simply resulted in none surviving. One
mint state
example from the proof or specimen dies was offered at the Reserve Bank of Australia sale in 2005 along with seven other
examples
(Downies, 2005)
. The mint state example was later sold at the Quartermaster collection in 2009 where it was estimated at $50,000 - $60,000but
it did not sell.
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