1887 Sovereigns: Varieties & Prices

G'day, I'm trying to put together a set of British coins of 1887. My research tells me that there are no less than nine varieties of sovereign for that year. And some are a lot rarer than others, with big prices to match.
The gold coins of 1887 were minted at London (no mintmark), Sydney ("S" mm), and Melbourne ("M" mm).
At the start of the year, the "Young Head" obverse was in use.
YH sovs had either of two reverses: shield, or St George.
The shield had the mm on the reverse.
St George had the mm on the obverse.
So far, we have six varieties of YH sovs: three mints; two reverses.

During 1887, the "Jubilee Head" was introduced, so called because the Queen celebrated 50 years on the throne that year.
The JH appeared on sovs at all three mints. But the shield was discontinued, so there is only one reverse on the JH sovs: St George. It is a little different from earlier St Georges, because the mintmark, if any, is now on the reverse.
So, there are three varieties of JH sovs.

Add that to the six YH varities, and you get nine distinctly different varieties of 1887 sovs.

Now to price: I'm always on the look out for 1887 items.
At a recent auction in California, four sovs of 1887 were for sale: all in the higher grades. The difference in price seems to reflect the market's perception of their differing rarity:

1887-M sovereign NGC MS-62 - JH, StG - slabbed
Estimate: US $400.00 - US $450.00
20 bids: Closed at: US $360.00

1887-S Sovereign, choice AU - JH, StG
Estimate: US $1,600.00 - US $1,700.00
21 bids; Closed at: US $1,100.00

1887-M Sovereign, Gem BU- YH, StG
Estimate: US $2,000.00 - US $3,000.00
3 bids: Closed at: US $1,200.00

1887-M Sovereign, RARE, nice unc - YH, shield
Estimate: US $10,000.00 - US $15,000.00
47 bids: Closed at: US $8,200.00

It is interesting to note that all sold for a lot less than the pre-sale estimates; but there was plenty of bidding.

I've now decided to put together a representative (and inexpensive) sample of The Sovereigns of 1887: someone else can try for the whole set.

Peter in Oz