au-sovereign-1924-m
different-basis 278,575 pieces
Two readings of the same year's Melbourne gold, on different bases. The branch gold table gives 278,140 as coin ISSUED during the year, read positionally from a table the transcription flattens. The report's prose gives 278,575 as the year's COINAGE, and that sentence checks itself against the dies used. They differ by +435 pieces (0.16%), 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 278,140 | Melbourne | issuedpositional reading | Reports of the Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, branch mint gold coinage tables
- lntS m Branch. ‘ 1924. i 1925. l 1 £ 26 Sydney 391.000 ,3 5,632,000 Melbourne 278,140 1 3,311,662 Perth 1,464,416 1,837,901 Ottawa .. Nil 1 Nil ' l Pretora 2,821 5,883,181 Totals 2,139,377 |
| 278,575 | 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 1924 has amounted to 278,575l. all in sovereigns. The number of dies used was 10, giving an average ot 55,715 £278,575 at 1 sovereign per pound; the report's own arithmetic closes: £278,575 / 5 pairs of dies = 55,715 pieces per pair, the figure it prints Die life. 10 dies, 5 pairs, 55,715 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.