This coin is a notorious rarity of the Victorian silver currency series and if a USA coin might be a 5 to 6 figure coin. So the coin was issued to circulation channels but of a Mintage nobody can verify as Royal mint records list coins struck but not the actual date on the coins struck (ie for 1854 the totals struck would be for all coins which in all likelihood was then for 1853 and 1854 dated coins). But the problem is for 1854 dated coins is that there are so few extant that is they are so hard to grade as they appear to be softly struck. So if few were struck to begin with, and these were evidently essentially all dumped into circulation, then how to grade especially if only very lightly circulated. Here is a reverse and will later post the obverse. GTG if you like:
Gotta see both sides of the coin to guess the grade. It's an absolutely stunning coin no matter the grade.
Well, I agree with Pickin... I won't speculate on a grade until I see the obverse. Not sure what point you're trying to make, but I guess we'll see later. I will say though, what I see looks quite attractive.
And here you go, the obverse is softly struck as can be seen (on the other hand possibly the best I’ve seen):
Although the obverse of these is notoriously weak, this is still an EF-AU example (VF-EF in British grading), and should be details. The lustre is a re-patina (the tones, at least in the photos, are not consistent with what I would expect of this period without an old 'dip' - UNC examples usually go to lavender-rose-grey tones, and circulated usually go to various gunmetal greys), and there is a lack of detail in the garment which is present in true unc examples (the reason that these were weakly struck on the obverse is that the obv die was reused, and it wore on the highest points - ie the hair, ear and facial features). A rare coin yes, a nice coin yes, an unc or original coin? Decidedly no.
All good points except this is the "glamour" PCGS photo so a bit of license there I suppose, and the coin does have brownish toning in hand. Also many florins and other Vicky silver not necessarily part of specimen sets were stored in cases that had a felt(y) sort of lining that gave purple colour. This coin has some "finning" to the rims from the original strike which may not always be seen on soft strikes. One area that I go to on similar coins is the edge - what is wear or strike there appear to be? This coin appears to have some very light wear and examination of the fields and device/Victoria on the obverse appear to confirm that; the reverse has truly lovely fields in hand that don't seem to have as much handling which is a bit strange. The shields there are very, very soft indeed but the crown detail at top and bottom of the shields is quite decent. What I would be interested in is seeing a better example - I was at the 1999 Spink sale that included what I think was about the finest Gothic florin sale I have seen (I think it was "Property of a Gentleman" or some such) and by recall there was not a coin to match.
Not a bad example as they go. I too have been waiting for that good one to reappear. It's one of those dates you should buy when reasonably priced and worry about upgrading later.
Waterbird specimen not up to this and now that was 13 years ago! Rob, do you have pictures of the '99 sale currency 1854? or 1863?
I agree with you JM, but it did not reach that level. In hand there is considerable lustre but light wear over generally soft strike. In fact it was graded AU-50. There is another on the internet, the Martin Platt specimen that looks a bit better struck but would not reach mint state either IMHO.
I got distracted and forgot to come back to this thread after the obverse picture. I'd say, I'd be very happy with that at AU-50. Collectors of British material tend to be a bit stricter in their grades. Accounting for the weak strike, 50 is a reasonable grade.
In hand, I thought 53. If they graded it with a different scale for rarity like some US coins, maybe 55 (too high IMHO). Not really that big of a deal, but it is a very nice coin compared to the few somewhat deficient specimens to come on the market in the last 15-20 years. This along with the 1863 florin are two of the very rarest Vicky silvers in true uncirculated in that nobody seems to have actually seen one that they can share. I gave up on the 1863 when an unc. went for 40+k USD! I would imagine the 1854 in similar grade might do close to that at auction. Scary rare and value.
