Baldwin & Sons
Auction 73 8 May 2012
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THE BENTLEY COLLECTION OF BRITISH MILLED GOLD SOVEREIGNS. Victoria, Proof Sovereign, 1853, engraved after William Wyon, second larger young head left, no single strand of hair at terminal of ponytail, hair bound with double fillet, W.W incuse on truncation, spread date below slightly doubled, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA slightly doubled, toothed border and raised linear outer rim both sides, rev engraved after Jean Baptiste Merlen, struck with inverted die axis, crowned quartered shield of arms within laurel wreath tied with bow below shield, seven harp strings in Irish arms, emblems below, small rosette either side, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:, edge milled, 7.99g, 22.1mm (WR 305 R3; Montagu 1570; Murdoch 505; DM 205; S 3852D). Light hairline scratch by first I of VICTORIA, toned, otherwise very pleasing as struck and very rare.
The Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
ex Spink Auction 119, 4 March 1997, lot 74
The 1853 Proof Sovereign struck from highly polished dies is a coin that was included in the very rare “Proof Sets” of all the coinage that were available for purchase from the Court Jeweller “Hunt and Roskell”. The coins were available to purchase singly too and this is one of the rarer Proof Sovereigns of the reign. The Proof Sets of 1853 are the rarest the Mint has ever produced in pre-decimal times and are generally considered the fourth set to have been officially issued.
With this Proof Sovereign note the new rendition of W.W on the truncation with only the single stop between the letters. It is questionable if perhaps these sets were produced as a memorial to their designer William Wyon who died 29 October 1851, aged about 56, and the incuse letters perhaps could be a metaphor for him being deceased, and under the level plain rather than living and above it. Such an intention would never have been recorded, but further research into the reasoning for issue of the 1853 Proof Sets and the differing WW treatment on the truncation of the Sovereign would be very useful.
The 1853 Proof Set is one of the most attractive sets, containing arguably one of Wyon’s finest designs, the silver Gothic style Crown, first produced as an excessively rare pattern in 1846 and then as a proof for sale in 1847, with supposedly about 8000 struck. Estimates of issue for the 1853 Proof Set have ranged from 150 to 400, though it is still an unknown quantity for sure. The Sovereign for the first time, is the highest value coin in the 1853 Proof Set when compared with the three previous official Proof Sets.
The Second Larger Young Head type Sovereign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
Victoria Second Small Young Head Type Currency Sovereign
From 1848 the size of Victoria’s young head bust increases to fill more of the available field and is therefore rendered closer to the legend lettering. This may have been an attempt to prolong the life of the dies, which are subjected to multiple tons of pressure in use, and as conjectured in the footnote for the previous lot after a Royal Mint Commission in this year investigated the die and matrix production. The Chief Engraver, William Wyon was called to give evidence on die production to this commission.
This second larger young head type sovereign was in use from 1848-1855 inclusive and is of the same general design as the previous smaller bust with the engravers initials W.W. raised with stops on the bust. The easiest way to tell the sizes of the bust, particularly when looking at the changeover year of 1848, is too look how close the front hair band fillet is to the legend as it is this point that differs most in the sizing of the busts.
In 1853 there was a slight change on some dies produced and the engravers initials WW are incuse on the truncation without stops and this runs concurrently from 1853-1855 with the first type and then alone from 1856-1870 inclusive. Strangely the 1853 proof has one stop between the letter W’s only on the truncation.
From 1863 until 1874 the reverses of the shield type feature an additional “die” number below the shield. These will be discussed at the relevant point in the cataloguing as they form quite an extensive series.
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: £10,000-12,000
The Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
ex Spink Auction 119, 4 March 1997, lot 74
The 1853 Proof Sovereign struck from highly polished dies is a coin that was included in the very rare “Proof Sets” of all the coinage that were available for purchase from the Court Jeweller “Hunt and Roskell”. The coins were available to purchase singly too and this is one of the rarer Proof Sovereigns of the reign. The Proof Sets of 1853 are the rarest the Mint has ever produced in pre-decimal times and are generally considered the fourth set to have been officially issued.
With this Proof Sovereign note the new rendition of W.W on the truncation with only the single stop between the letters. It is questionable if perhaps these sets were produced as a memorial to their designer William Wyon who died 29 October 1851, aged about 56, and the incuse letters perhaps could be a metaphor for him being deceased, and under the level plain rather than living and above it. Such an intention would never have been recorded, but further research into the reasoning for issue of the 1853 Proof Sets and the differing WW treatment on the truncation of the Sovereign would be very useful.
The 1853 Proof Set is one of the most attractive sets, containing arguably one of Wyon’s finest designs, the silver Gothic style Crown, first produced as an excessively rare pattern in 1846 and then as a proof for sale in 1847, with supposedly about 8000 struck. Estimates of issue for the 1853 Proof Set have ranged from 150 to 400, though it is still an unknown quantity for sure. The Sovereign for the first time, is the highest value coin in the 1853 Proof Set when compared with the three previous official Proof Sets.
The Second Larger Young Head type Sovereign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
Victoria Second Small Young Head Type Currency Sovereign
From 1848 the size of Victoria’s young head bust increases to fill more of the available field and is therefore rendered closer to the legend lettering. This may have been an attempt to prolong the life of the dies, which are subjected to multiple tons of pressure in use, and as conjectured in the footnote for the previous lot after a Royal Mint Commission in this year investigated the die and matrix production. The Chief Engraver, William Wyon was called to give evidence on die production to this commission.
This second larger young head type sovereign was in use from 1848-1855 inclusive and is of the same general design as the previous smaller bust with the engravers initials W.W. raised with stops on the bust. The easiest way to tell the sizes of the bust, particularly when looking at the changeover year of 1848, is too look how close the front hair band fillet is to the legend as it is this point that differs most in the sizing of the busts.
In 1853 there was a slight change on some dies produced and the engravers initials WW are incuse on the truncation without stops and this runs concurrently from 1853-1855 with the first type and then alone from 1856-1870 inclusive. Strangely the 1853 proof has one stop between the letter W’s only on the truncation.
From 1863 until 1874 the reverses of the shield type feature an additional “die” number below the shield. These will be discussed at the relevant point in the cataloguing as they form quite an extensive series.
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: £10,000-12,000