Victoria Copper Issue (1838 - 60)

This page was last updated on: May 15, 2012 9:31 AM

Choose Reign:

Enter the world of varieties, some researched and some unresearched. Quite apart from colon, full stop and unbarred A varieties (as yet all waiting for analysis), you may want to check your collections to see if you have unwittingly already got some of these : 1839 and 1840 2 Prongs to trident, 1842 Large 42, 1843 Roman I, 1843/2, 1845 Large Date, 1847 Proof, 1850 5/3 or 5/4, 1851 D/sideways D, 1851 Roman I, 1852 2/2, 1853/2, 1856 E/R, 1858 SD, 1858 1/1. And someone might discover 1848 or 1849 or 1854 with obverse 2 (head close to lettering), which may be still waiting to be discovered.

Picture	Date	DESCRIPTION	Price
	1864	Copper issue. BMC 1589 (this piece). Reverse upright. Proof in Copper. With a raised numeral 1 before incuse WW on truncation. We only know of three specimens:- a) British Museum b) Mint Museum (photographed in Peck) c) this piece. This piece is ex-Virgil Brand and E. M. H. Norweb (19.11.1986, SCA 56, lot 1106) collections and as far as we know, it is the only specimen available to commerce. It is not for sale but included here so that collectors can view a really rare and unusual Farthing.	Not for sale
	1860	Currency issue. BMC 1588. Excessively rare........ we know of only around seven specimens, including the proof version (see below). We acquired this piece in 1985. It had no pedigree attached to it at that time. It is Uncirculated with some red and pink lustre. It was sold to a private collector. It is included here so that collectors can view a really rare and unusual Farthing.	Sold
	--	Currency issue. BMC 1588. Excessively rare........ we know of only around seven specimens, including the 'proof' version (see below). Another, as above. Acquired at the same time as the piece above, again with no previous, known provenance. It is Uncirculated with an even brown patina. It was sold to a private collector. It is included here so that collectors can view another example of this really rare and unusual Farthing.	Sold
	--	Currency issue. BMC 1588. Excessively rare........ we know of only around seven specimens, including the 'proof' version (see below). Another, as above. All three of these currency pieces show a weakness in striking quality, particularly on Britannia's breastplate, in marked contrast to the proof version (see below). We acquired this piece from the Colin Allerton collection (North Carolina, USA) in early 1993, having previously sold it to him in March 1990 (List 11) for £3900. It is Uncirculated with traces of red lustre. It was sold to a private collector. It is included here so that collectors can view another example of this really rare and unusual Farthing.	Sold
	1860	Copper issue. Proof striking showing proof quality surfaces and much sharper, well-defined, full detail. Excessively rare. We acquired this piece in 1986. It had no pedigree attached to it at that time. It has a tiny spot in front of the mouth, otherwise it is in perfect condition with a lovely bluey tone. It is included here so that collectors can view a really rare and unusual Farthing.	Sold
	--	Another Proof, as above. We acquired this piece from the Hopetoun (Hopetown ?) House collection (SCA 68, 22nd March 1989 Lot 675). We sold this coin off List 8 (1989) for ?4190, subsequently re-acquiring it. It has a small edge knock on the obverse at 2pm, otherwise it is Choice with pinkish lustre. It is included here so that collectors can view another example of this really rare and unusual Farthing. (Now in a private collection in Derbyshire, in April 2002.)	Sold
	--	Another Proof, as above. We previously sold this coin from List 9 (1989, ?3650), re-acquiring it from the Dr Terry Aitken collection (Canada). We then re-sold it from List 28 (?4100), subsequently re-acquiring the coin from the Peter Bateman collection (Bonhams 1998). After listing it recently on List 40 (late 2000), it was sold to a private collector.	Sold

Note on 1858:

The Large Date is commonest. The vertical stroke of the 5 is often missing, making it seem like 1838 but the portraits are different and 1838 is W.W. raised whereas 1858 is WW incuse, which should help identification. There are a number of different dies used for the Large Date variety.

The Small Date really is very rare and is an important Peck "miss". The first we saw was in 1972 in the Dr Johnstone collection but he had only acquired it after Peck's book was written. We have seen about 20 specimens in total, over the last 27 years but only two in high grade. A detailed description of this variety appeared on our List 35. Both varieties were photographed on our List 36. Added feature : The Small Date type always has just the last 8 out of alignment, being significantly higher than the other three digits. This is clearly visible in the photograph below and it has never yet been seen on any Large Date 1858. Therefore, this feature can be used to distinguish SD from LD with absolute certainty.

Picture	Date	DESCRIPTION	Price
	1858	Large Date (Normal). Near EF	£20.00
	--	-- . EF	£25.00
	1857	GVF	£20.00
	--	GEF	£45.00
	1856	E/R in VICTORIA (many catalogues have this incorrectly listed as R/E). Near VF, extremely rare Ex R. Heseltine	£110.00
	--	-- . Choice GEF	Sold
	1855	WW Incuse (Rare). Fine	£10.00
	--	-- . GF	£15.00
	--	-- . Bold GVF	£48.00
	1855	WW Raised (Very rare). GEF, hints of lustre Ex R. Heseltine	£115.00
	1854	Fine	£3.00
	--	A/Unc	£45.00
	1854	Model Mille. One-thousandth of a pound was to be the decimal equivalent of a Farthing of which there were 960 to a pound. BMC 2098. F824. Choice Unc with lustre on both sides. Very rare in such high grade.	Sold
	1853	WW Raised. Near VF	£3.00
	--	-- . EF/GEF Ex R. Heseltine	£30.00
	--	-- . About Unc good lustre Ex R. Heseltine	£55.00
	1853	WW Raised. 3 over 2 in date. GVF, clear, rare. (Photograph includes a close-up of this variety.)	Sold
	--	-- . -- . GVF or better	£65.00
	1853	WW Raised. Copper Proof. BMC 1577. An extremely rare coin, with very few known examples. (Only two examples known to Peck and our records indicate only 4/5 examples over the last 34 years (some of which may be 'repeated' occurrences). Struck en medaille with reverse upright. Almost FDC with beautiful light coppery pink lustre. Exceedingly Rare. (First in stock since List 42, back in December 2001.)	Sold
	1853	WW Raised. Copper Proof. BMC 1577. An extremely rare coin, with very few known examples. (Only two examples known to Peck and our records indicate only 4/5 examples over the last 36 years (some of which may be 'repeated' occurrences). Struck en medaille with reverse upright. Almost FDC with beautiful light coppery pink lustre. Exceedingly Rare. Ex R. Heseltine	£875.00
	1853	WW Incuse (Rare). Fine	£6.50
	--	-- . GF	£8.00
	1853	WW Incuse. Copper Proof. BMC 1579. Reverse upright. (As issued in the Proof Sets for this year.) FDC. Very rare.	Sold
	1852	Fine, rare	£30.00
	1851	Fine, very rare.	£15.00
	1850	Unc traces of lustre Ex R. Heseltine	£95.00
	1849	Near Fine, rare	£25.00
	1848	Fine	£3.00
	--	GF	£5.00
	--	NVF	£8.00
	--	Unc good lustre	Sold
	1847	Fine/GF, attempted small drilling on obverse.	£1.50
	--	Fair	£1.50
	--	Fine	£5.00
	--	GF Ex R. Heseltine	£7.00
	1846	GF	£12.00
	--	From a small hoard of around 80 coins, these 1846 are all Almost Uncirculated and exhibit some original colour but they all have patchy toning. The appearance is of having been in the back of a fire grate or chimney at some time. They were found recently in Plymouth. For a rare date to turn up as a small hoard like this is indeed a rare event. They come in two varieties: a) with a small, neat 4 in the date and b) with a much larger 4, the result of the 4 being re-cut over a higher 4.	£45.00

Note on 1845:

Both Large Date and Small date exist. The Large Date type is extremely rare.

For the Small Date, there are two minor varieties:

Type A: 8 of date is upright. Scarcer.

Type B: 8 of date is tilted to the left. Commoner.

In addition, it is worth noting that there are THREE different sizes of the 1845 date. One is huge and extremely rare, the 4 being higher than the other numbers. The normal size is small, only half the size of the Large Date and the same size as in 1844. The other is a very tiny bit larger than the "small date" but not really big enough to be called "medium". This "near medium" size needs further study in relation to Types A and B above. For the moment, this "near medium" size is included under "Small Date".

Picture	Date	DESCRIPTION	Price
	1845	Small Date. Type B. Near VF	£10.00
	--	-- . -- . GVF	£20.00
	1844	Near Fine, extremely rare	£60.00
	--	Near Fine/Fine	£65.00
	--	Near EF, extremely rare	£450.00
	--	GEF toned, extremely rare	£795.00
	--	GEF traces of lustre Ex R. Heseltine	£795.00
	1843	Barred A's in GRATIA, but with two serifs on B of BRITANNIAR. About Unc slight lustre, toning. Ex R. Heseltine	£60.00
	1842	Type A. Fine	£16.00
	1841	NVF	£10.00
	--	GVF	£16.00
	--	Near EF	£26.00
	--	BU Full Lustre, lightly toning on the obverse. Ex R. Heseltine	£135.00
	1840	DEF: (Colon) (Normal). Wide Date. Fine	£4.00
	--	-- . -- . Unc lustre Ex R. Heseltine	£75.00
	1840	DEF: (Colon) (Normal). Compressed Date. EF a couple of minor bruises	£40.00
	1839	3 Prongs to Trident. DEF:(colon). Near VF	£5.00
	1839	2 Prongs to Trident. Fine	£9.00
	--	-- . GF	£12.00
	--	-- . GF/NVF	£14.00
	--	-- . EF, a little edgy, rare thus	£45.00
	--	-- . GEF Ex R. Heseltine	£55.00
	--	-- . GEF Ex R. Heseltine	£55.00
	1838	DEF.(Normal). Fine	£7.00