The 1875 Sydney is a highly underrated date despite its relatively high mintage figure of 252,000 with probably around
750 to 1,000 pieces surviving today. It was the third Young Head year to be struck at Sydney as denoted by the S
mintmark
under the shield.
S mintmark under the shield
While the date is available in mint state, it is very difficult to come by with probably fewer than 5examples available. The Reserve Bank sale featured
five premium grade 1875 Sydney half sovereigns with the finest being graded good EF
(Downies, 2005)
. The reverse of this date typically appearsslightly better
than the obverse with the
reverse generally not noticeably losing detail until the XF level. An 1875 Sydney graded good EF sold for $14,000
at Noble Numismatics sale 87 which shows the high level of demand for early date half sovereigns at the premium grade levels
due to their genuine scarcity.
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