au-sovereign-1923-m
different-basis 510,225 pieces
Two readings of the same year's Melbourne gold, on different bases. The branch gold table gives 510,870 as coin ISSUED during the year, read positionally from a table the transcription flattens. The report's prose gives 510,225 as the year's COINAGE, and that sentence checks itself against the dies used. They differ by -645 pieces (-0.13%), which is too small to be a misreading and is what coining and issuing differ by. Both are kept; the coinage figure carries the stronger evidence.
| Figure | Mint | What was counted | Source, and its own words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 510,870 | Melbourne | issuedpositional reading | Reports of the Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, branch mint gold coinage tables
Branch. 1 1922. 1 1923. 1 1 1 4 1 4 Sydney 578,000 416,000 Melbourne 608,306 ‘ 510,870 Perth 2,298,884 2,124,154 Ottawa ...1 Nil 1 Nil Pretor'a 1 Nil 1 406 Totals 1' 3,485,190 1 3,051,430 T |
| 510,225 | Melbourne | struck-in-report-yearchecksum confirmed | Reports of the Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, Melbourne branch, annual gold coinage and die life statements
gold coinage for 1923 has amounted to 510,225l. all in sovereigns. The number of dies used was 20, giving an average of 51,022 £510,225 at 1 sovereign per pound; the report's own arithmetic closes: £510,225 / 10 pairs of dies = 51,022 pieces per pair, the figure it prints Die life. 20 dies, 10 pairs, 51,022 pieces struck per pair |
It does not tell you what the coin is worth. A catalogue can honestly report how many were struck, what metal is in one, and what the documents say. It cannot report a market price without either inventing it or copying someone who might have. So this catalogue reports the first three and stays quiet about the fourth.