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Auction: 19005 - Coins and Commemorative Medals: Summer e-Auction
Lot: 195

Victoria (1837-1901), Halfcrown, 1839, type A3, young head left, W.W. incuse on truncation, rev. crowned shield in wreath, eight strings to harp, edge milled, 13.73g (Adams, lots 655 and 656, same dies; Davies 562; ESC 2711 {672} ~R4~; S.3887), a fresh discovery, with unfortunate gouging to portrait and expected superficial surface friction, an otherwise satisfactorily even strike, especially for this key date, the obverse strictly good to fair, the reverse fine, an extremely rare date as a currency issue

The present cataloguer is aware of only eight other examples of this extremely rare seminal currency date appearing at major public auction over the past two decades from at least one obverse and two reverse dies. A progressive die flaw is noted on the obverse of some examples, as exhibited on the present example through the T of VICTORIA. There is however a subtle difference to be noted between the reverses, confirming the employment of at least two dies:

Type A - colon stops aligned to 'normal' position after FID: and DEF:, stops point to border teeth.

Type B - As the reverse type employed for Proof set type A1 strikings (type A1) ~ upper stop displaced to align with top of the 'D' of FID:, and both pairs of stops point to gaps between border teeth. Subsequently used for currency strikings from 1840.


Recorded examples:
i) SJA 3, 3 October 2005, lot 517, 'type A' - good to fair

ii) Colin Adams, Spink 177, 1 December 2005, lot 651, 'type A' - poor

iii) SNC, March 1980, no. 2272; Colin Adams, Spink 177, 1 December 2005, lot 655; The Waterbird Collection - 'type B' - toned, extremely fine, perhaps the finest known

iv) CCA, 27 May 1997, lot 3; Colin Adams, Spink 177, 1 December 2005, lot 656, 'type B' - struck on an underweight flan, scratched fair to fine

v) Baldwin 57, 23 September 2008, lot 597 - 'type A' - very fine/good very fine

vi) Spink 109, 4 July 1995, lot 302; DNW 101, 21 June 2012, lot 463, 'type A' - a few obverse surface marks, otherwise good very fine or better

vii) DNW 111, 12 June 2013, lot 819 - 'type A' - very poor, barely legible

viii) Spink 226, 26 September 2016, lot 2043 - 'type B'; DNW 145, 13 March 2018, lot 380 - poor to fair

additionally:
ix) Uniface electrotype of 1839 Halfcrown, penned '929' - DNW 51, 4 October 2001, lot 562; DNW 101, 21 June 2012, lot 464 - 'type B'

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