1880/70 Overdate Sovereign - PCGS MS62

Great Britain, 1880/70 Overdate Sovereign -

S-3856A. There’re a lot of overdates across the UK milled series. Although the 1880 over 1870 is one of the more well-known examples, more research is no doubt required after one of my colleagues in London recently discovered the coin photographed above. Unlike most of the overdates from this year, the example photographed above has a long tail on the reverse and the first portrait obverse—and unrecorded die combination. I will do more research into how frequently this variety appears on the market, but after a quick scan on the internet, I could find only one other recorded example, graded XF. The overdate is scarce in its own right and none of the three other variations of this type appear frequently on the market, so it might be some time before I encounter additional examples that might shed light on the true rarity (or otherwise) of this new discovery. Equal-second finest graded by PCGS (December 2013) and scarce.