Baldwin & Sons
Auction 73 8 May 2012
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
THE BENTLEY COLLECTION OF BRITISH MILLED GOLD SOVEREIGNS. Victoria, Sovereign, 1879, by William Wyon, young head left, ponytail complete, WW buried in thin truncation in relief, rev St George slaying dragon with sword, hem of cloak doubled, horse with long tail, three strand end to tail, trace of one spur of extra hair on curve of tail, dragon with four claws to left and three to right foreleg, one detached, date in exergue, date double struck, tiny B.P. to upper right, 7.99g (Marsh 90 R4; MCE 541; S 3856A). Light surface marks mainly on obverse, nearly extremely fine / extremely fine and extremely rare
The Currency Sovereigns of Queen Victoria with St George and dragon reverse
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased 3 August 1990
Calendar year mintage 20,013
This incredibly low mintage for the calendar year is perhaps indicative of how rare the 1879 Sovereign really is. This is one sixth of the output for 1841 and only six times higher than in 1819. Hardly any 1879 Sovereigns survive in higher grades than very fine.
1879 marks the year when Resident Engraver T J Minton dies and this post is then abolished.
The young head obverse most significantly no longer carries the date of the coin, which for the St George and dragon reverse after Pistrucci is always in the exergue on the reverse side. The obverse is therefore of a different design, though the rendering of the bust style is similar to that seen at the end of the die number series, well engraved with a complete hair “ponytail”. This obverse was no doubt engraved by the Chief Engraver Leonard Charles Wyon, the son of William Wyon, working in the style of his Father and still acknowledging his design of the young head with the initials upon the neck. In fact the main difference with this bust design is upon the neck, where two distinct renderings of the WW initials occur once again. The first type to appear is the raised WW “buried” in the truncation, where the truncation appears literally too thin to support the large characters, and they only partially appear and meet the field below. In some cases as on some of the proof 1871 strikings this raised WW appears to be cut over the top of another even more partial raised WW right on the bottom edge of the truncation. Why this should be so rendered is a little mysterious, but could be as simple as correcting a first attempt at placing the initials, or more intriguingly perhaps Leonard C Wyon was acknowledging himself along with his Father, the twin WW’s literally one within the other.
The second rendering of the raised WW complete on the truncation from 1880 is smaller and more neatly engraved. The legend is a longer and abbreviated one compared to the shield series and reads VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REG: F: D: the tip of the neck usually points downwards, though there is one proof 1871 Sovereign where it distinctly points outwards (to be revealed and sold in part three). The finely toothed outer border is within twin linear concentric circles and an outer raised rim both sides.
The Sovereigns are struck with an inverted die axis and the reverse is as the 1821 design. The horse has a long tail with a three strand terminal, though this does vary later on. The horse tail length later in this series can be either short or long, and “spurs” of extra tail hair can appear below the top outside curve of the tail. The rendering of the dragon claws can also vary, at most it has four claws all attached on each foreleg. Sometimes one or two claws are detached and as dies start to wear they become more indistinct, being only a tiny detail on the coin. Sometimes the dragon has four claws on the left and three on the right, or three claws on each foreleg. St George himself can have a cloak with either a complete “hem-line” or sometimes it is partly broken and indistinct. The helmet streamer upon his head can also vary in its depiction. The WWP continues to appear in relief under the broken lance on the ground-line.
The most significant variation on the reverse though is the B.P. initials in the upper right of the exergue, which can be either large or small, mostly small in currency. They can be all there, or sometimes with absent stops though this is likely due to die degradation. This becomes more evident in coins where the letters themselves also become very indistinct and only partially there, until we see the “no B.P.” varieties which again are likely due to blockages on the die, though there is a chance that one die may have had the initials left off at the design stage! The edges are always milled for currency as usual.
The Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
House of Hanover
Born: 24 May 1819
Accession: 20 June 1837
Married: Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 10 February 1840
Coronation: Thursday 28 June 1838
Children: four sons, five daughters
Died: 22 January 1901, aged 81
Estimate: £3000-4000
The Currency Sovereigns of Queen Victoria with St George and dragon reverse
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased 3 August 1990
Calendar year mintage 20,013
This incredibly low mintage for the calendar year is perhaps indicative of how rare the 1879 Sovereign really is. This is one sixth of the output for 1841 and only six times higher than in 1819. Hardly any 1879 Sovereigns survive in higher grades than very fine.
1879 marks the year when Resident Engraver T J Minton dies and this post is then abolished.
The young head obverse most significantly no longer carries the date of the coin, which for the St George and dragon reverse after Pistrucci is always in the exergue on the reverse side. The obverse is therefore of a different design, though the rendering of the bust style is similar to that seen at the end of the die number series, well engraved with a complete hair “ponytail”. This obverse was no doubt engraved by the Chief Engraver Leonard Charles Wyon, the son of William Wyon, working in the style of his Father and still acknowledging his design of the young head with the initials upon the neck. In fact the main difference with this bust design is upon the neck, where two distinct renderings of the WW initials occur once again. The first type to appear is the raised WW “buried” in the truncation, where the truncation appears literally too thin to support the large characters, and they only partially appear and meet the field below. In some cases as on some of the proof 1871 strikings this raised WW appears to be cut over the top of another even more partial raised WW right on the bottom edge of the truncation. Why this should be so rendered is a little mysterious, but could be as simple as correcting a first attempt at placing the initials, or more intriguingly perhaps Leonard C Wyon was acknowledging himself along with his Father, the twin WW’s literally one within the other.
The second rendering of the raised WW complete on the truncation from 1880 is smaller and more neatly engraved. The legend is a longer and abbreviated one compared to the shield series and reads VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REG: F: D: the tip of the neck usually points downwards, though there is one proof 1871 Sovereign where it distinctly points outwards (to be revealed and sold in part three). The finely toothed outer border is within twin linear concentric circles and an outer raised rim both sides.
The Sovereigns are struck with an inverted die axis and the reverse is as the 1821 design. The horse has a long tail with a three strand terminal, though this does vary later on. The horse tail length later in this series can be either short or long, and “spurs” of extra tail hair can appear below the top outside curve of the tail. The rendering of the dragon claws can also vary, at most it has four claws all attached on each foreleg. Sometimes one or two claws are detached and as dies start to wear they become more indistinct, being only a tiny detail on the coin. Sometimes the dragon has four claws on the left and three on the right, or three claws on each foreleg. St George himself can have a cloak with either a complete “hem-line” or sometimes it is partly broken and indistinct. The helmet streamer upon his head can also vary in its depiction. The WWP continues to appear in relief under the broken lance on the ground-line.
The most significant variation on the reverse though is the B.P. initials in the upper right of the exergue, which can be either large or small, mostly small in currency. They can be all there, or sometimes with absent stops though this is likely due to die degradation. This becomes more evident in coins where the letters themselves also become very indistinct and only partially there, until we see the “no B.P.” varieties which again are likely due to blockages on the die, though there is a chance that one die may have had the initials left off at the design stage! The edges are always milled for currency as usual.
The Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
House of Hanover
Born: 24 May 1819
Accession: 20 June 1837
Married: Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 10 February 1840
Coronation: Thursday 28 June 1838
Children: four sons, five daughters
Died: 22 January 1901, aged 81
Estimate: £3000-4000