Stanley Gibbons Baldwin's
Auction 79 8 May 2013
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BRITISH COINS
The Bentley Collection of British Milled Gold Sovereigns
Contemporary Copper Imitation of a Sovereign, dated 1847
Victoria, Trial Sovereign, 1847, struck in copper, after William Wyon, coarse second larger style young head left, with thin double fillet in hair ruled with double incuse lines, open inner ear, hair bun touches G of legend, W.W. raised on truncation, date below, squat type 4 with double serif in date, toothed border both sides separate from rim, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA, rev struck with inverted die axis, crowned shield of arms within laurel wreath tied with bow below shield, six harp strings in thinner harp, lions in shield disjointed, emblems below, ribbons closer to emblems, small rosette either side, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:, first A with raised die flaw, edge milled, 4.62g, 22.4mm. Black spot by date, good extremely fine and unusual.
Possibly a fantasy or forger's piece, or maybe an apprentice's rendering for the second larger bust that followed in 1848. From the crudity of the design and inconsistency of it, compared to Mint product, it most likely is a forgery which, when covered with a thin layer of gilding, could pass as a Sovereign to the unwary.
Estimate: £300-500
The Bentley Collection of British Milled Gold Sovereigns
Contemporary Copper Imitation of a Sovereign, dated 1847
Victoria, Trial Sovereign, 1847, struck in copper, after William Wyon, coarse second larger style young head left, with thin double fillet in hair ruled with double incuse lines, open inner ear, hair bun touches G of legend, W.W. raised on truncation, date below, squat type 4 with double serif in date, toothed border both sides separate from rim, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA, rev struck with inverted die axis, crowned shield of arms within laurel wreath tied with bow below shield, six harp strings in thinner harp, lions in shield disjointed, emblems below, ribbons closer to emblems, small rosette either side, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:, first A with raised die flaw, edge milled, 4.62g, 22.4mm. Black spot by date, good extremely fine and unusual.
Possibly a fantasy or forger's piece, or maybe an apprentice's rendering for the second larger bust that followed in 1848. From the crudity of the design and inconsistency of it, compared to Mint product, it most likely is a forgery which, when covered with a thin layer of gilding, could pass as a Sovereign to the unwary.
Estimate: £300-500