SOVEREIGN RARITIES WORKMAN COLLECTION, PART 4

Victoria (1837-1901) Pattern Bronze Penny 1895 with beaded inner circle on reverse NGC PF64BN £6,000-£8,000

This extremely rare pattern has the older widow style head of Victoria designed by Thomas Brock with a pattern reverse trialling the idea of adding a beaded inner circle around Britannia, though the figure breaks the circle at trident, shield and helmet. The proposed design never went ahead and this pattern piece remains elusive and extremely rare, it is graded PF64 brown and estimated at £6,000-£8,000.

Victoria (1837-1901) Pattern Bronze Penny 1865 with coronet head NGC PF64BN £6,000-£8,000

This is the final coronet head pattern from the Bernard Workman collection to highlight in the Esylum. This pattern is dated 1865 which is the year T. J. Minton who engraved the obverse die became the Resident Engraver in the Mint, a post that had been officially vacant since the previous incumbent George Wyon died in 1862. The design is based on that of sculptor W. Theed who worked for Wedgewood and though it was not used for British currency a version of it was used for colonial coinages. This bronze Pattern is graded as PF64 brown and estimates at £6,000-£8,000 for the auction of November 19th.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1863 with die number 3 below date NGC VF30BN £3,000-£4,000

Each week we have featured one of the die number pennies of 1863 in the Esylum for the auction of 19th November. This is the duplicate die number 3 Penny of 1863 which is the only one of the four die number pieces that has been straight graded as VF30 brown. The tiny die number 3 is displayed below the 8 and 6 of the date in the exergue and was part of a die marking process to trace the journey of such pennies from manufacture to release into circulation. The coin is estimated at £3,000-£4,000.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1862 Freeman 38 dies 2+G NGC MS63BN £3,500-£4,500

One of the rarest currency die combinations fo the year 1862 is that with the earlier obverse 2 with L C WYON signature on the base of the bust and later reverse G with convex style shield, bell topped lighthouse and no L.C.W. initials for Leonard Charles Wyon on the groundline. This is an extremely rare pairing and seemingly the finest known as it is graded MS63 brown and estimated at £3,500 to £4,500 for November 19th.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1861 Freeman 32 dies 6+F £2,000-£3,000

Another very rare die combination is this 1861 Penny with the later obverse without signature coupled with a reverse with lighthouse having three horizontal lines depicting the junction between bricks and lantern. There is also a thicker helmet plume and a rock now touches the lower left of the shield as well as there being no designer initials. The coin has not straight graded but estimated to sell for £2,000-£3,000 as Freeman rates the coin in his catalogue as R16 out of a 20.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1861 Freeman 24 dies 4+F NGC MS66BN £1,500-£2,000

Another very rare die coupling is the 1861 Penny of Freeman number 24 obverse die 4 which has the L.C.WYON engraver signature mostly off the truncation of the bust into the field and the L appears more like an I. The reverse die F is as the coin above and the combination is rated as R17 out of 20. This coin has received the highest grade in the Bernard Workman selection for this auction as MS66 brown and is estimated to sell for £1,500-£2,000

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1861 Freeman 28 dies 5+G NGC MS63RB £800-£1,000

This Penny is another very rare combination for the date 1861 with the obverse at a slightly earlier stage to the above also without a signature below the bust but retaining the recess in the truncation where the engraver signature should have been. There is also a fifteen leaf laurel wreath as opposed to the sixteen of the coin above, and the leaf veins are double incuse. The reverse is similar to the above but has an extra line to the left of the sailing ship and the sea level meets the inner linear circle rather than crossing it like the earlier reverse of the coin above. Freeman catalogued this coin as number 28 and obverse die 5 with reverse die G and rated it as R18 out 20, the coin is graded as MS63 red and brown and estimated conservatively at £800-£1,000.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronze Penny 1860 mule of toothed obverse with beaded reverse NGC MS64RB £3,000-£4,000

In week one of this Esylum feature we showcased the other example of this unusual muling combination where a toothed rim obverse has ended up coupled with a beaded rim reverse. Such coins are an extreme rarity in any grade of preservation, nevermind one as nice as this with red lustre still apparent. This example is one grade higher as MS64 red and brown and estimated to sell for £3,000-£4,000 on November 19th.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronzed Copper Proof Penny 1860 heavy flan 2.35mm thick NGC PF65+BN £3,000-£4,000

The last two pennies we are featuring are both bronzed copper proofs of the 1860 beaded border Penny. This one above is struck on a thicker 2.35mm heavier flan weighing in at over 13.5g and is straight graded PF65+ brown. This extreme rarity is estimated at £3,000-£4,000.

Victoria (1837-1901) Bronzed Copper Proof Penny 1860 normal flan £3,000-£4,000

Lastly, we feature the bronzed copper proof on the regular flan dated 1860 with the beaded rim border. This coin has once been lightly scratched negating it from a straight grade but they are so rarely encountered that we expect the coin to fetch between £3,000 and £4,000 on the afternoon of 19th November in London.

Please check in with www.sovr.co.uk for the latest on the live auction and status of pre-bidding upon the lots.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SOVEREIGN RARITIES WORKMAN COLLECTION (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n42a21.html)
SOVEREIGN RARITIES WORKMAN COLLECTION, PART 2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n43a29.html)
SOVEREIGN RARITIES WORKMAN COLLECTION, PART 3 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n44a24.html)

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