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COIN CLUB
The transition of Obverse 1 to Obverse 2
In 1838 a new obverse die was made for the start of Queen Victoria's reign.
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3d - Obverse 1 |
This Obverse die 1 remained in use, unchanged for 19 years.
The definition to Victoria's hair below her hair ribbons always appeared worn
even on choice unused examples.
In 1857, Obverse die 1 required that a couple of letters in VICTORIA needed
repairing due to weakness. The exact order that these repairs took place are
unclear as there appears to be some inconsistencies that will be shown.
As with any puzzle one cannot solve it unless one has all of the information or
pieces. The same applies to the order of these repairs. What has been found,
so far, are the following changes.
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ST 1857 A - Obv. 1 Original 'I' & 'C' |
ST 1857 A - Obv. 1 Original 'G' short centre bar |
ST 1857 A - Obv. 1 Original 'G' short centre bar |
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normal 
no top serif
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G's short cross- bar
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G's short cross- bar
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ST 1857 A - Obv 1 - From 1838 to 1857 the normal fonts use for VICTORIA are a 'Roman' font style 'I' & plain font style 'C' (with NO top serif). G's of D: G: & REGINA have short centre-bars. See above pictures. |
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ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1A Broken 'I' & 'C' with top serif |
ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1A Original 'G' short centre bar |
ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1A Original 'G' short centre bar |
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G's short cross- bar
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G's short cross- bar
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ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1A - The bottom left leg of the first 'I' in VICTORIA appears to be broken and looks like an inverted Arabic 1. The 'C' is now of a different font and possibly 1 size larger than the original 'C'. The new 'C' has a serif top as appose to the original 'C' that had NO serif ! G's of D: G: & REGINA have short centre-bars. See above pictures This variety has been listed as ref: ST 1857 C1 & as Obv. 1A |
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ST 1857 C2 - Obv. 1B 'I' over 'I' & original style 'C' |
ST 1857 C2 - Obv. 1B Original 'G' short centre bar |
ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1B Original 'G' short centre bar |
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I over I No top serif C |
no top serif |
G's short cross- bar
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G's short cross- bar
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ST 1857 C2 - Obv. 1B - The first 'I' of VICTORIA appears to have the corrected repair to the 'I' and it now has a 'full' foot. However, there is a tiny bit of another 'I' below from an earlier misplaced trial punch. The 'C' appears similar to the original 'C' but now is broken at the top. G's of D: G: & REGINA have short centre-bars. See above pictures This variety has been listed as ref: ST 1857 C2 & as Obv. 1B |
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ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C 'I' over 'I' & 'C' with top serif |
ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C Original 'G' short centre bar |
ST 1857 C1 - Obv. 1C Original 'G' short centre bar |
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G's short cross- bar
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G's short cross- bar
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ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C VICTORIA |
ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C I - C |
ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C (VI) CTO (RIA) |
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ST 1857 C3 - Obv. 1C - Similar to ST 1857 C2 the first "I" of VICTORIA appears to have the corrected repair However, there is still the tiny bit of the test strike of another 'I' below the original 'I' from an earlier misplaced trial punch. The new 'C' has a serif top as appose to the original 'C' that had NO serif ! As this C with the top serif is 1 size large and slightly thicker than the original 'C' it is possible that ir was used to cover up the smaller broken top of the 'C'. No example or trace of the smaller 'C' has been noted for 1857 however a couple of smaller 'C' over (larger) top serif 'C' have been found for 1859 ! The 'O' of VICTORIA has a small split at top centre & bottom. See pictures ST 1857 C3 & as Obv. 1C. |
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In 1857 it is probable that more than one 'working' die was repaired due to the existence of TWO
different obverse repairs - as seen with Obv. 1B & 1C with different style font C's. However this
does not explain the order of repair of obv. 1A with the 'broken' foot but the new style 'C' !?
1858
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ST 1858 C - Obv. 1A Broken 'I' & 'C' with top serif |
ST 1858 C - Obv. 1A Original 'G' short centre bar |
ST 1858 C - Obv. 1A Original 'G' short centre bar |
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Top serif C 
broken |
G's short cross- bar
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G's short cross- bar
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ST 1858 C - Obv. 1A - The bottom left leg of the first 'I' in VICTORIA appears to be broken and looks like an inverted Arabic 1. The 'C' is now of a different font and possibly 1 size larger than the original 'C'. The new 'C' has a serif top as appose to the original 'C' that had NO serif ! 'G's of D: G: & REGINA have short centre-bars. As per 1857 C1 The 'O' of VICTORIA is broken as seen in 1857 C3 This variety has been listed as ref: ST 1858 C & as Obv. 1A |
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| Obv. 1D C over C (Broken O over O ?!) & G with long centre bar | |||||
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ST 1858 E - Obv. 1D 'C' over 'C' (?) & 'O' over 'O' |
ST 1858 E 'C' over 'C' (?) & 'O' over 'O' |
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Top serif C
broken |
with top serif |
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ST 1858 E - D: G: 'G' has long centre bar |
ST 1858 E - REGINA 'G' has long centre bar |
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G's
long cross-bar
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G's
long cross-bar
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ST 1858 Ec - Obv.1D (F: D: Type - Ac) The 'C' is over (probably) a 'C' but is it over the the original 'C' with no top serif or a test strike for the new 'C' !? The 'bit' that is showing is inside the slight curve of the C. The 'O' in VICTORIA is broken at top and bottom as seen with Obv. C1 & C3 but there is an under-strike that is visible both inside on left and top right outside. As a repair it was no improvement. The MAJOR change is that the G font with short cross bar has been replaced by a 'G' with a LONG centre crossbar. In D: G: & REGINA. |
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It is difficult to know what other obverse variations could
turn up for 1858 !
1859
In 1859 it appears that the Royal Mint started using up all of the 'older' obverse
dies that still were serviceable such as Obv. 1, 1 B, 1D, & 1E.
| Obv. 1D - C over C & G with long centre bar | ||
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ST 1859 D - Obv. 1D 'C' over 'C' (?) - broken 'O' top & bottom |
ST 1859 D 'C' over 'C' (?) |
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ST 1859 D - D: G: - Obv. D1 |
ST 1859 D - REGINA - 'G' with long centre bar - D1 |
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1859 - Obv. 1E - C with top serif & G with long centre bar |
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ST 1859 Ea - VICTORIA Top serif to C Obv. 1E |
ST 1859 Ea - D: G:
Long cross-bar to G Obv. 1E |
ST 1859 Ea - REGINA Long cross-bar to G Obv. 1E |
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1859 - Obv. 1F - C with top serif & G with long centre bar, As per Obv. 1E but with C over C - sideways in VICTORIA |
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| ST 1859 Fr - Obv. 1E with C over C sideways in VICT | |||||
Sometime, late in 1859, the Royal Mint decided that after the minor changes
or improvements had been made to the legend with the more shapeful C & G
the engravers turned their attention to improving Victoria's hair, below her hair
ribbon which even with seemingly unused coins her hair appeared worn even
with Maundy and early strike currency coins.
Obverse 2. The new die in fact changed very little of Victoria's previous
portrait. The hair line below the hair-ribbon has been sharply re-cut with more
incuse lines. Her hair now covers the top of her ear.
The legend around Victoria's head is that used after the eventual changes that
are seen on Obverse 1E. The C in VI VICTORIA now has an upper serif at the top.
The G in D: G: and in REGINA have a long centre cross-bar.
The alignment of the legend to the border teeth remain the same as does the
border teeth count.
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ST - Obverse 1 |
ST - Obverse 2 |
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| ST - Obverse 1 (Hair) | ST -Obverse 2 (hair) |
ST - Obverse 1 - In use from 1838 to 1861. This die was always unsatisfactory in
the way that it depicted Victoria hair below the hair-ribbons.
The hair always looked worn even on choice struck coins.
Note that the top of Victoria's ear is clear.
ST - Obverse 2 - This die has basically evolved over 3 years 1857, 1858 & 1859 !
Firstly, with the change in the legend of VICTORIA from using the
normal 'plain' C to a C with a top serif in 1857 (continued into 1858)
Secondly, with the change from G in G of D: G: & in REGINA with
a small cross-bar to a G with the long cross-bar in 1858.
None of the rest of the legend appears to have been altered in any
way. The alignment of the legend to the border teeth remain the same
as does the border teeth count. As per Obverse 1E.
Thirdly, and the part that was noticed by Davies was the re-cutting
of the hair line below the hair-ribbons with sharp incuse lines.
The small clump of hair, just to the left of her ear has increased in
size and the end tip of this clump now covers the top of her ear.
* It is easy to determine Obverse 1 from Obverse 2 on well worn examples
simply by the C & G in the legend. However, on well worn examples it is
impossible to determine Obverse 1E examples from Obverse 2 - when
Victoria's hair and ear are not clearly visible due to the C & G's in the
legend alignment being the same for both dies !
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Now for something completely unexpected !
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1863 - Obv. 1G - C with NO top serif & G with short centre bar - As per Normal Obverse 1 However, Now with VICTORIA's bust and hair as per Obv. 2, with re-cut hair with sharp incuse lines |
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ST 1863 G - Obv. 1G Legend: Obv.1 - Hair/Ear: Obv. 2 Un-retouched picture |
ST 1863 G - Obv. 1G Legend: Obv.1 - Hair/Ear: Obv. 2 Re-touched picture |
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ST 1863 G - VICTORIA (As per Obv. 1 legend ) NO top serif to C |
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ST 1863 G - D: G: (G with short cross-bar) Un-retouched picture |
ST 1863 G - D: G: (G with short cross-bar) Re-touched picture |
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ST 1863 G - REGINA (G with short cross-bar) Un-retouched picture |
ST 1863 G - F: D: Un-retouched picture |
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ST 1863 G - Hair & Ear as per Obv. 2 with sharply re-cut - incuse lines Un-retouched picture |
ST 1863 G - Hair & Ear as per Obv. 2 with sharply re-cut - incuse lines Re-touched picture |
ST - 1863 G - Obverse 1G - Legend as per Obv. 1 & Victoria's bust as per Obv. 2
Why or how this obverse came about is very difficult to explain !?
This "strange" Obverse is very had to understand as it basically requires TWO punches.
1 for the legend and a 2nd for the whole of Victoria's head !
How does that work out for alignment and is it even possible !?
Otherwise the Royal Mint engraver needed to use a good condition Obverse 1 die
(because of the legend) - The C of VICTORIA has the normal 'plain' C.
The G of D: G: & in REGINA has a small cross-bar !
None of the rest of the legend has been altered in any way.
The alignment of the legend to the border teeth remain the same as does the border
teeth count. Now, the engraver would had to re-cutting the hair line below the
hair-ribbons with sharp incuse lines to the exact same lines as per Obverse 2 (bust).
How was the small clump of hair, just to the left of her ear increased in size and the
end tip of this clump now covers the top of her ear ?
How would it be possible to be that accurate working on only the one (obverse 1) die !?
This coin raises more questions than answer.
1. Why is this coin dated 1863 ? The bust of Obv. 2 was 1st used in 1859 !
Obv. 1 & Obv. 2 are seen jointly used in 1860 and 1861. However, so far
there has been no sighting of Obv. 1 in 1862. So it did appear as if Obv. 1
had been phased out !
2. F of F: D: has a very weak to non-existent foot and the D has the lower right
section missing - indicating a fairly worn out die !
3. It possible that there was a separate obv. VICTORIA - head (bust) punch !?
This coin makes the transition history from Obv. 1 to Obv. 2 even more complex.
* It is with great shame that this so far unique coin had to have scratches on
the obverse but luckily it does not really detract from this import find. Also the
coin has a lovely deep all over tone. But for the obverse scratches the coin
would be grade EF?/EF.
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