Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 20 26 Sep 2018
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British Coins, Victoria, sovereign, 1843, 'narrow shield', young head l., rev. crowned shield of arms within wreath (S.3852B; Marsh 26A [R3 in any grade]), a fabulous sovereign displaying full mint brilliance combined with gorgeous gold colour and a marvellous strike, certified and identified erroneously by PCGS as S.3852, graded as Mint State 64, quite possibly the finest known example of this famous rarity and the only example graded MS64 by PCGS
The 'narrow shield' style of reverse is most easily distinguished from ordinary reverses by the positioning of the laurel leaves to the sides of the shield (on regular reverses, the second-most top inner leaves are in line with the shield's top but the central leaves are above the shield's central line dividing the quadrants), making the royal shield appear taller and thinner. There is also a set of inner berries at the top of each laurel cluster on the 'narrow shield'. In terms of the engraving quality, it may be said to be more delicate on this rare variety, displaying the armorial emblem under the shield as somewhat larger and longer, creating a more artistic uniting of the thistle, rose and shamrock. Why this die was created, and why it was employed so sparingly only during 1838 and 1843, remain unanswered questions. What is apparent is the astounding quality of this specimen, finer than the Bentley coin and finer than all others seen so far.
This exceptional piece was described by Charles Wander as one of his favourite coins in his collection.
(20000-25000 GBP)
The 'narrow shield' style of reverse is most easily distinguished from ordinary reverses by the positioning of the laurel leaves to the sides of the shield (on regular reverses, the second-most top inner leaves are in line with the shield's top but the central leaves are above the shield's central line dividing the quadrants), making the royal shield appear taller and thinner. There is also a set of inner berries at the top of each laurel cluster on the 'narrow shield'. In terms of the engraving quality, it may be said to be more delicate on this rare variety, displaying the armorial emblem under the shield as somewhat larger and longer, creating a more artistic uniting of the thistle, rose and shamrock. Why this die was created, and why it was employed so sparingly only during 1838 and 1843, remain unanswered questions. What is apparent is the astounding quality of this specimen, finer than the Bentley coin and finer than all others seen so far.
This exceptional piece was described by Charles Wander as one of his favourite coins in his collection.
(20000-25000 GBP)