Heritage World Coin Auctions
Signature Sale 3029 14-16 January 2014
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Great Britain
Selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection of World Coins. Victoria Pattern Gothic Florin 1848, ESC-892, PR66 NGC. Although rated R2 in ordinary condition, this is a very choice and especially beautiful example of chief engraver William Wyon's exquisitely conceived pattern for the new denomination introduced to the public in 1849. It was the first time in England's long history that a coin was produced with the value of 2 shillings (or 24 pence). The Gothic portrait of Victoria as a young monarch seen on this pattern is the same portrait that was adopted for the commercial Florin coinage in 1849; it was used as well on the Gothic Crown of 1847 and 1853. A crowned effigy was unusual for a homeland coin in the 19th century, as the crown was normally reserved for royal portraits on coins of the colonies and, later, of the Commonwealth. Historically, the monarch was portrayed with a crown only rarely. On this specimen, the queen's visage is fully struck, showing all the wonderful details of her profiled face, bodice and hairstyle. The famous jeweled crown (to be seen today among the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London) is so deeply engraved it seems to gleam. The artistic simplicity of the obverse is complemented by Wyon's stylish "royal cypher" consisting of a large "VR" for Victoria Regina surrounded and linked together by a facing Tudor rose, a thistle, a shamrock, and the Prince of Wales's plumes and motto. All are within a large curving quatrefoil and are entirely surrounded by a broad open border containing the coin's denomination expressed as both One Florin and One Tenth of a Pound. This specimen possesses exceptionally fine eye-appeal, with its bright silvery golden blue obverse and a reverse sheathed in beautiful magenta and vivid blue iridescence. An exceptional example of this Victorian classic.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD
Selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection of World Coins. Victoria Pattern Gothic Florin 1848, ESC-892, PR66 NGC. Although rated R2 in ordinary condition, this is a very choice and especially beautiful example of chief engraver William Wyon's exquisitely conceived pattern for the new denomination introduced to the public in 1849. It was the first time in England's long history that a coin was produced with the value of 2 shillings (or 24 pence). The Gothic portrait of Victoria as a young monarch seen on this pattern is the same portrait that was adopted for the commercial Florin coinage in 1849; it was used as well on the Gothic Crown of 1847 and 1853. A crowned effigy was unusual for a homeland coin in the 19th century, as the crown was normally reserved for royal portraits on coins of the colonies and, later, of the Commonwealth. Historically, the monarch was portrayed with a crown only rarely. On this specimen, the queen's visage is fully struck, showing all the wonderful details of her profiled face, bodice and hairstyle. The famous jeweled crown (to be seen today among the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London) is so deeply engraved it seems to gleam. The artistic simplicity of the obverse is complemented by Wyon's stylish "royal cypher" consisting of a large "VR" for Victoria Regina surrounded and linked together by a facing Tudor rose, a thistle, a shamrock, and the Prince of Wales's plumes and motto. All are within a large curving quatrefoil and are entirely surrounded by a broad open border containing the coin's denomination expressed as both One Florin and One Tenth of a Pound. This specimen possesses exceptionally fine eye-appeal, with its bright silvery golden blue obverse and a reverse sheathed in beautiful magenta and vivid blue iridescence. An exceptional example of this Victorian classic.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD