1887

[Roy]

Inspired by the 1957 thread, I thought I'd put this coin up for appraisal/discussion

I haven't actually seen the coin or had it in hand, but I have these pics to look at 😄

I bought it a while ago.

 

m  

 

 

[LawrenceChard]

12 hours ago, Roy said:

Inspired by the 1957 thread, I thought I'd put this coin up for appraisal/discussion

I haven't actually seen the coin or had it in hand, but I have these pics to look at 😄

I bought it a while ago.

 

m  

 

 

It appears to be a London Mint sovereign, although it does not look as yellow as I would expect, but this could be due to the lighting or photography.

I took a closer look at the mintmark area, and cannot be certain whether there is a rather mushy mintmark or not. In the latter case, it would be London Mint.

[Roy]

You are correct,  it is a London coin.

Do you think the effigy sits rather high? The crown is touching the outer rim. Or is this common?

 

[sovereignsteve]

It looks to be the common London type with right angled J

The height of the crown is standard.

Nothing immediately jumps out except perhaps the rear of the helmet plume lacks definition and the dragon wing over the foot perhaps doesn't protrude as much as it should. Could be photography artefacts.

Probably one to look closely at and compare with an original, if the physical checks aroused suspicion.

[Roy]

Thanks. 👍

I haven't had it in hand yet, weights and measures to follow, I only have an amateur photo to go on!

Photographing coins is difficult, I think, and takes a certain amount of skill and patience (as I suspect Doug most likely reminds Lawrence on a frequent basis!).

Now, to shake things up, and not to disregard your comment about the height of the crown Steve, what do you think of this?

The effigy sits much lower, and touches the outer rim at the bottom (or bust!).

Now, you may think I'm deliberately trying to confuse you because although the example is indeed an 1887 Jubilee, it's from a different mint.

But aren't they all supposed to be equal?

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Roy

[Booky586]

I guess you're seeing the difference between first legend and second legend jubilee heads. There's a very good reference catalogue put together by sovereign rarities (David Iverson and Steve Hill) that lists the different jubilee head varieties attached.

The jubilee head Sovereigns are one of my favourites to collect and there plenty of different varieties like yours to be found.

 

The Jubilee Head Gold Sovereign 1887-1893 Iverson.pdf

[sovereignsteve]

3 hours ago, Roy said:

But aren't they all supposed to be equal?

Oh no, there are several varieties, as you will now realise.

The 1887 M with the second legend is the rarer one I think. I'm not sure about that J though, I certainly don't regard myself as in any way expert in Jub heads. I must have a look at that download linked above.🙂

[MikeSol]

Those look like some of my dodgy photos