Baldwin & Sons
Auction 73 8 May 2012
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THE BENTLEY COLLECTION OF BRITISH MILLED GOLD SOVEREIGNS. Victoria, Sovereign, 1844, first young head left, no single strand of hair at terminal of ponytail which is partly disjointed, date below, date evenly spread, 18 doubled, last A of legend filled, rev crowned quartered shield of arms within laurel wreath, emblems below, small rosette either side, upper left serif of second I absent in BRITANNIARUM, a few light raised flaws in reverse lettering, 7.99g (Marsh 27; MCE 505; S 3852). Three tiny scratches in shield by crown and in lower right quarter, small light scratch under truncation, otherwise a little weakly struck at shield, pleasing extremely fine.
thicker hair terminal to ponytail normal date 1844
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased 12 November 1990
Calendar year mintage 3,000,445
This coin exhibits a weaker rendering of the ponytail terminal, which in the first smaller young head usually has a single curving strand of hair to finish it off, and with the two multi-strand turnings of hair above fully jointed. This 1844 Sovereign does not have the single strand termination and shows a multi-strand ending at the part above. The next part above that is only partially joined on one side rather than both. This weaker rendering occurs very rarely.
There are various differing date arrangements for the 1844 dated sovereign, some are more widely spaced than others; some have dates arranged in a smooth arc, whereas others may have the 44 markedly higher than the 18. The cataloguer feels that it was about this time that the consistency of the quality control in the production of dies started to slip, but this may be because the output of coins produced is consistently on the high side in the 1840s compared to previous decades and the number of dies that would have been required to strike such amounts commensurately greater. Still higher mintages were yet to come in succeeding years and the Bentley Collection will continue to demonstrate many of the varieties that resulted from this seemingly rushed work at the Mint.
1844 also marks the year that Leonard C Wyon, son of William becomes second engraver.
Victoria First Small Young Head Type Currency Sovereign
The currency Sovereigns of Queen Victoria begin with a standard Young head design engraved by William Wyon with date below. The head does not quite fill the field as a later depiction does from 1848, and has the hair bound with a double fillet. It also has a large bun at the rear of the head that drops down into a “ponytail,” which on this earlier issue terminates at the bottom in a single strand ring-like curl. The engraver’s initial’s W.W. appear raised on the truncation. The legend reads VICTORIA DEI GRATIA. The border is finely toothed with a linear circle around the raised border which features both sides with a milled edge. The young head obverse design in basic from runs from 1838 till 1887. There are no Sovereigns dated 1840. However, this first young head is of a smaller design and only lasts for ten years inclusive from 1838-1848.
The reverse engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen features a new crowned shield design with a laurel wreath surrounding to left and right of 24 leaves per side, the top of each wreath each side terminates in two leaves. The bottom stalks are tied together with a ribbon and emblematic plants are depicted below. A central rose with a thistle to the left and a shamrock to the right. A small rosette appears either side. The majority of currency reverses of Victoria carry seven strings in the Irish harp with a faint diagonal line running through them depicting the rear of the bottom harp body. The shorter left string generally emanates at the top from the scroll on the back of the female figure on the harp body. The inner arches of the crown above have eleven pearls on each side, and five more run up the central upright. There are nine varied jewels on the crown band. The legend reads BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:. The reverse is struck with an inverted die axis in relation to the obverse.
The shield type reverse design endures in the London series from 1838 till 1874 with just a few varieties. In the Colonial Australian series this reverse lasted until 1887 as it proved popular and acceptable in trade with Asia, a narrative to be continued in part two of the Bentley Collection.
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: £600-800
thicker hair terminal to ponytail normal date 1844
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased 12 November 1990
Calendar year mintage 3,000,445
This coin exhibits a weaker rendering of the ponytail terminal, which in the first smaller young head usually has a single curving strand of hair to finish it off, and with the two multi-strand turnings of hair above fully jointed. This 1844 Sovereign does not have the single strand termination and shows a multi-strand ending at the part above. The next part above that is only partially joined on one side rather than both. This weaker rendering occurs very rarely.
There are various differing date arrangements for the 1844 dated sovereign, some are more widely spaced than others; some have dates arranged in a smooth arc, whereas others may have the 44 markedly higher than the 18. The cataloguer feels that it was about this time that the consistency of the quality control in the production of dies started to slip, but this may be because the output of coins produced is consistently on the high side in the 1840s compared to previous decades and the number of dies that would have been required to strike such amounts commensurately greater. Still higher mintages were yet to come in succeeding years and the Bentley Collection will continue to demonstrate many of the varieties that resulted from this seemingly rushed work at the Mint.
1844 also marks the year that Leonard C Wyon, son of William becomes second engraver.
Victoria First Small Young Head Type Currency Sovereign
The currency Sovereigns of Queen Victoria begin with a standard Young head design engraved by William Wyon with date below. The head does not quite fill the field as a later depiction does from 1848, and has the hair bound with a double fillet. It also has a large bun at the rear of the head that drops down into a “ponytail,” which on this earlier issue terminates at the bottom in a single strand ring-like curl. The engraver’s initial’s W.W. appear raised on the truncation. The legend reads VICTORIA DEI GRATIA. The border is finely toothed with a linear circle around the raised border which features both sides with a milled edge. The young head obverse design in basic from runs from 1838 till 1887. There are no Sovereigns dated 1840. However, this first young head is of a smaller design and only lasts for ten years inclusive from 1838-1848.
The reverse engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen features a new crowned shield design with a laurel wreath surrounding to left and right of 24 leaves per side, the top of each wreath each side terminates in two leaves. The bottom stalks are tied together with a ribbon and emblematic plants are depicted below. A central rose with a thistle to the left and a shamrock to the right. A small rosette appears either side. The majority of currency reverses of Victoria carry seven strings in the Irish harp with a faint diagonal line running through them depicting the rear of the bottom harp body. The shorter left string generally emanates at the top from the scroll on the back of the female figure on the harp body. The inner arches of the crown above have eleven pearls on each side, and five more run up the central upright. There are nine varied jewels on the crown band. The legend reads BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:. The reverse is struck with an inverted die axis in relation to the obverse.
The shield type reverse design endures in the London series from 1838 till 1874 with just a few varieties. In the Colonial Australian series this reverse lasted until 1887 as it proved popular and acceptable in trade with Asia, a narrative to be continued in part two of the Bentley Collection.
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: £600-800