In 1887, the British coinage was redesigned to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. We buy and sell 1887 proof or uncirculated gold five pound pieces at competitive prices.
Five Pounds History
The first gold quintuple sovereign (£5 coin), was issued in 1820, and is considered by some to be be a pattern coin. In 1826 and 1839, proofs were issued as part of complete proof coin sets, and this also occurred in 1902, 1911, and 1937.
Only in 1887, 1893, and 1902 were ordinary circulation types issued in addition to proof versions.
1887 Gold Five Pounds The 1887 gold five pounds was issued in proof and normal (non-proof) versions, as part of the design change to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. In 1887, a gold five pound coin was issued in sufficient quantities for circulation, as well as proofs included with 11 coin sets. It is only one of three dates of gold five pound coin which was issued for general circulation, in addition to proof or pattern issues.
Die Life
We were surprised to hear that in 1887, the typical die life for the five pound coin was around 200 strikes. As the reported mintage was 54,000 pieces, excluding proofs, this would work out at around 270 pairs of dies, although we would have expected the obverse die life to be longer than that of the reverse.This means that the number of die variations could be very high.
It would also have been expected that a large number of coins would be seen with noticeable die cracks, but this is actually uncommon with this coin issue. From this, one could theorise that the Mint changed dies very frequently as they may have considered these coins important as Britain's highest value "flagship" coin. It has been suggested to us that this was not known to be the case. This remains, for the time being, an interesting numismatic mystery which may one day be solved.
Fake Five Pounds
Gold five pounds have frequently been copied, with the commoner dates being forged more prolifically than others. As 1887 is the commonest date, it is also the most often copied.See our Fake Five Pounds page for more information.
We recommend anyone buying these coins privately to exercise particular caution.
Price & Availability
| Date | Version | Available | Grade | Price £ | Price $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1887 Gold Five Pound
|
Proof | Wanted | FDC | £Ask | $Ask |
|
1887 Gold Five Pound
|
Ordinary | Sold | EF | £Ask | $Ask |
Please check our Standard Terms for Bullion Coins.You may wish to use our order form.
Postage & Packing
UK: Fully Insured £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail at Buyer's Risk $10 US, or...
USA Insured Shipping $20 US
Canada Airmail at Buyer's Risk $15 Can, or...
Canada Insured Shipping $30 Can
Obverse of 1887 Gold Five Pounds
Reverse of 1887 Gold Five Pounds
32 - 36 Harrowside, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY4 1RJ, England. Telephone (44) - (0) 1253 - 343081; Fax 408058;
E-mail: Contact Us The URL for our main page is: taxfreegold.co.uk