Chris started collecting in the late 90’s. He became more and more passionate about coin collecting and gained a great amount of knowledge over the years as he was never afraid to talk to dealers and graders and learn from their experience. Initially he saw it as an investment but as time went on he became more and more interested in the history and the mintages of the coins. Chris mostly focused on Victorian sovereigns with the intention of getting one of each of the sovereigns minted in each year, he later extended his interest to later sovereigns and also other gold such as the 1oz Australian Kangaroo nuggets, where again he tried to collect one from each year (he had 2007 to 2022 before he died).
Chris used to buy from eBay and dealers, but had a particular affection for London Coins and their grading company CGS and had many of the more valuable and rare coins graded with the Coin Grading Service. He became very good at being able to grade coins himself and constantly was upgrading the quality of each of his coins trying to get as close to extremely fine as possible, he also knew the mintages of each of his coins. Chris was a regular at the Midland Coin Fair at the motorcycle museum near Birmingham and became very familiar with many of the dealers and became quite well known there, it was at the MSCF he met Stephen and Semra of London Coins. Chris would also buy remotely though places such as eBay, but also various dealers he had built relationships with here and overseas.
His remote buying was not free from frustration, sometimes when a coin arrived it was not of the quality the seller had indicated, Chris like most advanced collectors was very fussy about the quality of the coins he bought. He was also frustrated by the fact that he was being charged VAT and Duties on coins he bought and had many battles when he bought coins remotely. Chris was keen to get his estimation if the grading confirmed by experts and travelled to London Coins where he met Paul Redford who attributed and graded all CGS coins (50,000) as well as London Coins auction consignments. During the era where CGS published league tables (Set Registry) Chris’s collection was one of the finest recorded Sovereign collections by CGS.
Sovereign 1871S George and the Dragon, WW buried in truncation, Horse with short tail, Large B.P. Marsh 110A, S.3858, GEF/EF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, the only year for the Large B.P. type
Sovereign 1872 George and the Dragon, WW buried in truncation, Horse with Long tail, Marsh 85, S.3856A, GEF and lustrous with some minor contact marks, exhibiting much eye appeal
Sovereign 1874 Shield Reverse, Marsh 58, S.3853B, Die Number 32, bold Good Fine, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 30, one of the key dates in the London Shield series and always in high demand. Extremely Rare and rated R4 by Marsh/Hill Note: Only four die numbers have been recorded for this date.
Sovereign 1874M Shield Reverse, 4 of date with lower part of serif joined to right of base, LCGS variety 06, type as Marsh 60, S.3857, EF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 60
Sovereign 1874S George and the Dragon, Marsh 113, S.3858A, EF and lustrous, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, listed as N (Normal) by Marsh/Hill but appears far less frequently than many other dates in the series
Sovereign 1879 Marsh 90, S.3856A EF, the reverse retaining some mint lustre, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, an extremely rare date, with a mintage of just 20,013 pieces, rated R3 by Marsh/Hill, high grade examples seldom offered and always sought after
Sovereign 1879M George and the Dragon, Horse with medium tail, Larger last stop in B.P., Marsh 101A, S.3857D, EF/GEF and lustrous, the obverse with some light contact marks
Sovereign 1880S George and the Dragon, Horse with long tail, WW complete on broad truncation, Small B.P. in exergue, Marsh 117B, S.3858C GEF with some lustre, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70, a pleasing example of this one-year type
Sovereign 1881M Shield Reverse, Rounded tip to truncation, hairline in line with the gap between I and A in VICTORIA, Marsh 62, S.3854A, VF and pleasing with touches of red tone in places, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 45, Rare, rated R2 by Marsh/Hill, we note there was no example in the Bentley Collection
Sovereign 1881S George and the Dragon, WW buried in truncation, Horse with short tail, No BP in exergue, Marsh 118, S.3858D, GVF/NEF the reverse retaining some lustre, with some contact marks and small edge nicks
Sovereign 1881S Shield Reverse, Marsh 77A, S.3855B, Pointed tip to truncation, hairline in line with the A in VICTORIA, in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 65, rated R by Marsh/Hill
Sovereign 1882M George and the Dragon, Horse with medium tail, Small BP in exergue, Marsh 104, S.3857D, EF with some contact marks and small edge nicks
Sovereign 1883M George and the Dragon, WW complete on truncation, Horse with short tail, Small B.P. in exergue, Marsh 105A, S.3857C, GEF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 70
Sovereign 1883M Shield Reverse, Marsh 64, S.3854A, VF in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 45, rare, rated R2 by Marsh/Hill, only 427,450 minted, the lowest mintage in the Young Head Melbourne Shield series
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