Lot 3345
Great Britain. Pattern Penny, 1857. Peck-1968; Freeman-674. Victoria, 1837-1901. 32.5 mm. 1.75 mm thickness. Officially produced by the British Royal Mint for a proposed decimal coinage. Obverse: Portrait of Queen wearing jeweled diadem left, within circle of dots, VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F:D: 1857 around. Reverse: Britannia seated within circle of dots. DECIMAL PENNY above, ONE TENTH OF A SHILLING below. Pleasingly toned with a deep golden mauve patina, this is a very important coin in the British copper series. In our opinion nicer than the grade given. In a new 4 prong NGC holder. NGC graded MS-62 Brown.
*Peck states that the decimal pattern coins of 1857 and 1859 were made in anticipation of a change to decimal currency for which there had been much agitation for the past 20 years. Coupled with this there was a growing demand for smaller, or at any rate lighter, coins, and it is obvious that several experimental bronze alloys were tried out. It is possible that the dies for this piece were engraved by James Wyon, cousin of L.C. Wyon and Resident Engraver at the Mint 1851-1860, although no designer's initials are evident on the obverse or reverse.
Freeman rates this coin as Rarity 18 (i.e. only 6-15 pieces produced) and Peck describes it as 'Very Rare'. Certainly one of the finest known examples of a practically unobtainable coin which is something of a 'Missing Link' between the large copper pennies which were not produced for circulation after the 1850's and the smaller bronze post-1860 pennies which continued in production until 1967.
Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,200.
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| Realized $2,070 |
