File:Newfoundland 1865 5 cents obv H3032-24255.jpg

This specimen was lot 24255 in Heritage sale 3032 (Chicago, April 2014), where it sold for $12,337.50. The catalog description^[1] noted, "An Incredibly Rare Specimen of Newfoundland. Victoria Specimen 5 Cents 1865, London mint, KM 2, SP66 PCGS. Plain Edge - Medal Alignment. A glowing example, simply outstanding in presentation, with a mixture of rose and blue colors in the obverse centers and a blended array of fiery reds and oranges around the legends. The reverse, likely resting against a presentation box for decades, has acquired many of the same shades, only in less structured pattern. Interestingly, the dies used for this "specimen" strike, and that of the circulating type do contain one minor variation - the reverse die uses an Arabic "1" in the date, a trait that apparently was absent from this denomination until the strikings of 1872. An extreme rarity in the Newfoundland series with fine business strikes remaining elusive, but presentation pieces such as this rarely being offered. If fact, a scan of major sales across a period of two decades yields no comparables - none were represented in Norweb, Pittman, Belzberg, or Canadiana.

The Prager Collection has allowed for the an unprecedented side-by-side study of some of the rarest pattern and specimen issues of early Newfoundland. From these, the 1865 issues are particularly intriguing. Specifically, the Arabic '1' on the 5 cent specimen and usage of portrait NF2 on the 10 cent specimen suggests a production date in the early 1870s. While this evidence is far from conclusive, we hope this notation will spur further scholarly research on the topic. From The Prager Collection of Canadian Specimen Coins."