1829 George IV Bare Head Gold Sovereign

[LawrenceChard]

I do enjoy seeing nice quality pre-Victoria gold sovereigns. Whatever grade they are in, I always want them to be better.

Here is an 1829 George IV Bare Head Gold Sovereign I looked at recently:

It is noticeable there there is still much hair detail, despite the obvious circulation wear and tear. It does make modern sovereigns look rather "flat" and lacking in relief detail.

As often the reverse is not showing as much sign of wear as the obverse.

I think the central shield weakness is due to slighly weak striking rather than wear, but it is impossible to be certain.

The lower right hand shield has quite a few red spots, which possibly add to its charm, rather than detract.

It could provide signs for a number of "Red Lion" pubs.

As usual, I will invite guesses for the number of serrations.

No prizes!

😎

[papi1980]

Another finger in the air but how about 112?

[Britannia47]

SNAP!  Look what I just found, but can't be fagged to count the serrations! 

 

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, papi1980 said:

Another finger in the air but how about 112?

I'll have a look in a few days!

😎

1 hour ago, Britannia47 said:

SNAP!  Look what I just found, but can't be fagged to count the serrations! 

 

Yours doesn't seem to have any!

😎

[refero]

111

[Britannia47]

4 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

I'll have a look in a few days!

😎

Yours doesn't seem to have any!

😎

What, no serrations?!  It must be a new variety then!  Without going into detail about lenses, distant to object, parallax etc, none of my images would show serrations anyway. That is achieved in the photo lab by artificially enhancing the whole of the serration profile. I wonder who does that?!  Well done L.C. 😄

[LawrenceChard]

4 hours ago, Britannia47 said:

What, no serrations?!  It must be a new variety then!  Without going into detail about lenses, distant to object, parallax etc, none of my images would show serrations anyway. That is achieved in the photo lab by artificially enhancing the whole of the serration profile. I wonder who does that?!  Well done L.C. 😄

Thanks, but most of the praise should go to @SemolinaPilchard!

He might just share some of his / our secrets here.

😎

[Stuntman]

The everyday circulating coins of George IV's reign also appear to have been very well-made.  Look at the half crowns, shillings, pennies, halfpennies and farthings for example.

I do love a nice coin from the pre-Victorian milled era. 

As for the serration count, I will go a little higher: 120. 

[SidS]

To be fair all the coinage from 1816-1850 or so is well made. Yes the odd punches and overstrikes occur, but from the 1850s onwards and certainly by the 1860s-70s with the trend towards lower relief you see a real degradation in quality.

[SidS]

Serration count 104

[refero]

On 06/07/2022 at 11:22, LawrenceChard said:

I'll have a look in a few days!

and soooo?

[LawrenceChard]

On 05/07/2022 at 22:40, LawrenceChard said:

I do enjoy seeing nice quality pre-Victoria gold sovereigns. Whatever grade they are in, I always want them to be better.

Here is an 1829 George IV Bare Head Gold Sovereign I looked at recently:

It is noticeable there there is still much hair detail, despite the obvious circulation wear and tear. It does make modern sovereigns look rather "flat" and lacking in relief detail.

As often the reverse is not showing as much sign of wear as the obverse.

I think the central shield weakness is due to slighly weak striking rather than wear, but it is impossible to be certain.

The lower right hand shield has quite a few red spots, which possibly add to its charm, rather than detract.

It could provide signs for a number of "Red Lion" pubs.

As usual, I will invite guesses for the number of serrations.

No prizes!

😎

 

On 06/07/2022 at 07:06, papi1980 said:

Another finger in the air but how about 112?

 

On 06/07/2022 at 08:59, Britannia47 said:

SNAP!  Look what I just found, but can't be fagged to count the serrations! 

 

 

On 06/07/2022 at 11:36, refero said:

111

 

21 hours ago, Stuntman said:

The everyday circulating coins of George IV's reign also appear to have been very well-made.  Look at the half crowns, shillings, pennies, halfpennies and farthings for example.

I do love a nice coin from the pre-Victorian milled era. 

As for the serration count, I will go a little higher: 120. 

 

6 hours ago, SidS said:

Serration count 104

 

2 hours ago, refero said:

and soooo?

and so...

111

@refero wins!

(Did you count yours?)

😎

[LawrenceChard]

7 hours ago, SidS said:

To be fair all the coinage from 1816-1850 or so is well made. Yes the odd punches and overstrikes occur, but from the 1850s onwards and certainly by the 1860s-70s with the trend towards lower relief you see a real degradation in quality.

I think actually that the overdates, double punching, variation in numeral and lettering sizes, all add to the interest, and I don't really see them as a quality problem.

[refero]

2 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

@refero wins!

i want my prize! i know there wasnt any but still....😝

[refero]

On 08/07/2022 at 18:16, LawrenceChard said:

(Did you count yours?)

that coin looked like a 111 serrations one. I usually can tell buy the sight of the king-queen