Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 20 26 Sep 2018
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British Coins, Victoria, sovereign, 1848, first (small) young head l., rev. crowned shield of arms within wreath (S.3852; Marsh 31A), lustrous but a bit softly struck and showing some wear and tiny abrasions all over the obverse side, certified and graded by PCGS as About Uncirculated 55
The extremely rare first head variety and only one other example graded AU55 by PCGS.
Perhaps the quickest way to identify this rare variety is to check where the I in DEI appears over the downward curve of the queen's hair immediately to left of the top bunch of hair in her ponytail: on this variety that letter sets centred, whereas on the second head it sets to the left. This is a very rare coin, in point of fact, that was not recognized for most of the time since it was struck, not even by Marsh in his first editions. While it is called the 'small head' it is only slightly so compared to the following portrait. Evidently the positioning of the queen's portrait was altered in this year in an attempt to prolong die-life (as fully explained in the Bentley sale of 8 May 2012, lot 55 footnote). For advanced collectors of sovereigns, this coin presents a true opportunity to obtain a coin absent from almost all collections.
(3000-3500 GBP)
The extremely rare first head variety and only one other example graded AU55 by PCGS.
Perhaps the quickest way to identify this rare variety is to check where the I in DEI appears over the downward curve of the queen's hair immediately to left of the top bunch of hair in her ponytail: on this variety that letter sets centred, whereas on the second head it sets to the left. This is a very rare coin, in point of fact, that was not recognized for most of the time since it was struck, not even by Marsh in his first editions. While it is called the 'small head' it is only slightly so compared to the following portrait. Evidently the positioning of the queen's portrait was altered in this year in an attempt to prolong die-life (as fully explained in the Bentley sale of 8 May 2012, lot 55 footnote). For advanced collectors of sovereigns, this coin presents a true opportunity to obtain a coin absent from almost all collections.
(3000-3500 GBP)