Sovereign Errors, Overdates and Varieties

[dicker]

Incorrectly aligned Victoria Sovereigns….they are a less obvious error / variety, but do exist. Has anyone else found one? 

[GoldDiggerDave]

Looks like a jewellers reproduction to go into a ring or necklace where the reverse would only be visible.

[dicker]

1879 M St George

I think this is a G over a C - although there is more going on here than just that with the extra serif under the bar of the G.

Thoughts?

Best

Dicker

Edited February 4, 2022 by dicker
Typo

[Darr3nG]

45 minutes ago, dicker said:

Thoughts?

 

If you knew the typeface/font being used, it should be possible to overlay an outline of both letters.

[sovereignsteve]

G over rotated G?

[dicker]

7 hours ago, sovereignsteve said:

G over rotated G?

You may be right actually!  Thank you.  

[GoldDiggerDave]

[dicker]

4 hours ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

Wow nice technical skills and thanks for taking the time to post this!   Really appreciated!

[dicker]

Hi All

As a generalisation, I see very very few errors from the Australian branch mints.

Does everyone agree / disagree?

Best

Dicker

[GoldDiggerDave]

@dicker Sure this has been said before, but a publication/ database of error sovereigns would be a fantastic read.  

[sovereignsteve]

3 minutes ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

@dicker Sure this has been said before, but a publication/ database of error sovereigns would be a fantastic read.  

It's being worked on😉

[GoldDiggerDave]

@sovereignsteve I'd be more than happy to help.  I'm fortunate enough to see quite a few.  Also I'd love to see a DNA (so to speak)  data base of sovereigns tested for alloy type.  You only have to see some sovereigns in the flesh and you know they have a slightly different alloy ratio.  

I also find die breaks interesting, I have a few sovs with almost identical breaks so possibly a database of die breaks while we are at it.  Would be good to estimate where about in the lifetime the dies were in when the coins were stuck (even identify die sets)    I've got a mega 1876 that has to be one of the first coins stuck on a new die set.  Seen loads of 1871 with very similar die breaks.  

I don't want much 

[dicker]

Today we have a continuation on the theme on one of my previous posts on this threads around Australian Half Sovereigns.

Todays coin is Sydney 1883 Half Sovereign (Marsh 467). This is a coin that I think is less common than indicated in Marsh (but this is my own subjective view).  Marsh has a mintage of 220k and a has a rating of N

I would appreciate views on the following:

(1) Firstly there appears to be A over something?

(2) Another 1 for I in REGINA (See previous post on a London Half Sov of 1880 with an identical presentation).  

• I now have three examples of the 1 for I / Broken Serif on different Half Sovs - all of which present in the same way (1880-S Half, 1883-S Half and a 1880-L Half).  Admittedly, I did go out to obtain this particular variant and am looking for more examples.
• So what might be happening here?
  • Fundamental weakness that affected dies and caused the same problem across years and across mints (The dies originated from London of course)
  • There was an error present on a master / Hub that was then used to create some of the dies which were used in London and shipped to Sydney? 

I have not seen this on any Halves outside of the range of 1880 > 1883 and only on London and Sydney minted halves.

Thoughts?

Best

Dicker

 

 

[shawy2510]

Here is Regina on my 1883s Half Sov

 

[GoldDiggerDave]

3 minutes ago, shawy2510 said:

Here is Regina on my 1883s Half Sov

 

Nice clean sharp strike.

[dicker]

For me this is an interesting topic and thanks to @shawy2510.

I suspect I am going to need to do some denticle counting and further examination to see if the dies are the same.  

[Foster88]

Would anyone agree that this 1858 sovereign is the unbarred ‘A’ variety in GRATIA?

Possibly broken bars, I’m not so sure.

[GoldDiggerDave]

@Foster88 would be good to see the full coin, sometimes if the picture has been taken even at a very slight angle can look like un barred A’s, there does look like a small section of the bar is there on both A’s Very interesting coin. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by GoldDiggerDave

[Foster88]

On 05/02/2022 at 21:16, sovereignsteve said:

It's being worked on😉

Is there anymore news on this Steve?

I’d be very interested if this is still happening.

[Leo1]

I just bought this 1879 M Sovereign. I thought it could be the mid tail variety but I’m not quite sure. The second dot in B.P. looks  a little bit bigger than the first one. What do you think? Would it be worth grading?

[LawrenceChard]

On 04/02/2022 at 14:29, dicker said:

1879 M St George

I think this is a G over a C - although there is more going on here than just that with the extra serif under the bar of the G.

Thoughts?

Best

Dicker

G in GRA, or C in VICTORIA?

Probably needs a full coin photo to show where it is.

Ah, just seen it above, the G in REG.

😎

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by LawrenceChard

[GoldDiggerDave]

@dicker The G is lower and out of alignment and looks like it's over struck something.Left is also a 1879M for comparison.

[GoldDiggerDave]

@Leo1 Also for comparison the left is a long tail 1879M

[Foster88]

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a Jubilee Head sovereign obverse with these ‘joined letters’ before.

Has anyone ever seen this?

Photo zoomed in of obverse.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Foster88

[GoldDiggerDave]

@Foster88 Not seen one with that bad of a die breakdown.