Great Britain 1848 half crown
This specimen was lot 21000 in Heritage sale 3021 (New York, January 2013), where it sold for $6,168.75. The catalog description[1] noted, "Victoria Halfcrown 1848, Young Head, very rare date, MS65+ PCGS, almost fully struck, some faint old ticks in the queen's hair and fields but otherwise just splendid in surface quality and in satiny luster, with a smooth pastel-like olive and reddish golden blue iridescence. Possibly the finest known piece of this date, and by far the best one this cataloguer has seen in decades. From The Kairos Collection." The type was struck for circulation 1839-50 and features the bust of the young queen Victoria. A slightly revised bust was used 1874-87. An overdate, 1848/6, exists and is priced slightly cheaper than the regular date. The bust strongly resembles the one used on the crown but the half crown was issued in much larger numbers.
Recorded mintage: 367,000.
Specification: 14.14 g, 0.925 fine silver, .420 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: S-3888, KM 740.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Rayner, P. Alan, and Maurice Bull, English Silver Coinage from 1649, 6th Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2015.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3021, featuring the Cecil Webster, Richard P. Ariagno and Elizabeth McPhall Charters Collection, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2012.
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