St. James's Auctions
Auction 32 19 May 2015
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Victoria, sovereign, 1859, Ansell, young head l., rev. crowned shield of arms within wreath (S.3852E; M.42A), extremely fine, and one of the finest known
Easily distinguished by the raised line along the lower portion of the ribbon behind Victoria's ear, this famous variety came into existence for a purely technical reason: the gold from which it was made came from Australia, where the early Sydney Mint found itself unable to refine out the natural silver and other metals in its native gold ore (Challis, page 513). The coin takes its name from the man who ultimately alloyed the Australian specie for coinage use, George Frederick Ansell, who authored a technical paper called 'A Treatise on Coining' (first appearing in The Mechanics' Magazine, 24 June 1859). His biography is vague but he seems to have been employed, for his expertise in metals chemistry, by the Royal Mint in its smelting room, where he successfully parted out the trace metals in the ore and deemed the gold received from Australia to be fit for coinage into sovereigns. His work was evidently questioned by the master of the mint, so he added the now-famous raised line on the ribbon to dies he had prepared to intentionally test results. Initially the gold was curiously called 'brittle' because of the impurities it contained when received at the mint. Ansell's sovereigns underwent testing and were found equal to all others in durability, not at all 'brittle'. All of the Australian gold received by the Royal Mint in 1859 was then coined into sovereigns, and these were duly released into commerce. The exact number of sovereigns struck using Ansell's dies has never been proved. Decades passed before the variety was recognized by the numismatic fraternity, by which time almost all discovered examples showed considerable wear, but in fact few Ansells have ever been located. The rest of the mintage of 1859 disappeared around the world during the century in which sovereigns were freely traded. Never identified as unusual during this period, most undoubtedly ended up melted down into gold bars. Few survivors can begin to match the qualities offered by this beautiful example. It has lovely, choice surfaces combined with an evenly sharp strike on each side, including high beaded rims, and rich golden colour. Only the barest friction in the lustre is perceptible.
Estimate: £6000-7000
Easily distinguished by the raised line along the lower portion of the ribbon behind Victoria's ear, this famous variety came into existence for a purely technical reason: the gold from which it was made came from Australia, where the early Sydney Mint found itself unable to refine out the natural silver and other metals in its native gold ore (Challis, page 513). The coin takes its name from the man who ultimately alloyed the Australian specie for coinage use, George Frederick Ansell, who authored a technical paper called 'A Treatise on Coining' (first appearing in The Mechanics' Magazine, 24 June 1859). His biography is vague but he seems to have been employed, for his expertise in metals chemistry, by the Royal Mint in its smelting room, where he successfully parted out the trace metals in the ore and deemed the gold received from Australia to be fit for coinage into sovereigns. His work was evidently questioned by the master of the mint, so he added the now-famous raised line on the ribbon to dies he had prepared to intentionally test results. Initially the gold was curiously called 'brittle' because of the impurities it contained when received at the mint. Ansell's sovereigns underwent testing and were found equal to all others in durability, not at all 'brittle'. All of the Australian gold received by the Royal Mint in 1859 was then coined into sovereigns, and these were duly released into commerce. The exact number of sovereigns struck using Ansell's dies has never been proved. Decades passed before the variety was recognized by the numismatic fraternity, by which time almost all discovered examples showed considerable wear, but in fact few Ansells have ever been located. The rest of the mintage of 1859 disappeared around the world during the century in which sovereigns were freely traded. Never identified as unusual during this period, most undoubtedly ended up melted down into gold bars. Few survivors can begin to match the qualities offered by this beautiful example. It has lovely, choice surfaces combined with an evenly sharp strike on each side, including high beaded rims, and rich golden colour. Only the barest friction in the lustre is perceptible.
Estimate: £6000-7000