The 1889 Sydney is the key date of the series and one of the most underrated half sovereigns in the entire series; This was largely due to its mintage figure going unpublished in most catalogues despite Royal mint reports stating a mintage of 32,000 (Marsh, M, A, 2004) . The prices have come up to a more realistic level so perhaps the comment of this being a sleeper is outdated though there was a time when this date, although turning up very infrequently, would turn up at or close to bullion value. There are two varieties for this date, one has 13 pearls in Queen Victoria's necklace (this issue) and the other with 12. The 12 pearl necklace is by far the scarcer of the two with about 1 in 5 having this rare variety.
