1872 Shield Reverse Sovereign

No die number. Although die numbers are not widely collected, it is worth noting that the absence of a die number of this particular issue is unusual, as the use of die numbers was well established by the 1870s. Sovereign expert Steve Hill suggests in his write-up of the Bentley auction that a likely explanation of the absence of the die number was that older reverse dies (pre-1863) were re-deployed in 1872. An interesting issue.