Spink
Auction 22117 27 Jun 2022
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Victoria (1837-1901), Shilling, 1878 [Die 52], Type A7 variety, fourth young head left, plain on truncation, tight ribbon, extra tuft below [?] rev. crowned value in wreath, die number below ties, edge milled, 5.63g, 6h (cf. Bull 3051 [R3]; cf. ESC 1330; cf. Spink 3907A), lightly wiped but struck up and residually lustrous, a really bold very fine, a curious bust variety with the extra tuft of hair below ribbon.
The third and fourth heads of Victoria's pre-Jubilee specie are notoriously difficult to demarcate in the Shilling series. Traditionally the distinction has been made between the 'loose ribbon' (Type A6) and the 'tight ribbon' (Type A7) seen before the trailing hair at the back of Queen Victoria's head. More properly this should be seen as the transition from 'the Shilling head' (third bust used to 1879) to the 'Sovereign head' (fourth bust used thereafter). However, this coin bears hallmarks of a transition, having the distinctive tighter ribbon profile of the fourth bust with the nigh on perpendicular clump of hair resulting above the ribbon, but also an additional tuft of hair below that does not subsequently feature on later issues. Given the vagaries of numismatic understanding of the portraiture during this period, it will be interesting to see if this inspires further research.
Estimate: £40 - £60
The third and fourth heads of Victoria's pre-Jubilee specie are notoriously difficult to demarcate in the Shilling series. Traditionally the distinction has been made between the 'loose ribbon' (Type A6) and the 'tight ribbon' (Type A7) seen before the trailing hair at the back of Queen Victoria's head. More properly this should be seen as the transition from 'the Shilling head' (third bust used to 1879) to the 'Sovereign head' (fourth bust used thereafter). However, this coin bears hallmarks of a transition, having the distinctive tighter ribbon profile of the fourth bust with the nigh on perpendicular clump of hair resulting above the ribbon, but also an additional tuft of hair below that does not subsequently feature on later issues. Given the vagaries of numismatic understanding of the portraiture during this period, it will be interesting to see if this inspires further research.
Estimate: £40 - £60