LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 May/June Long Beach CA Sig World Coin #440  / 

51143

Great Britain: Victoria Young Head Proof Penny 1

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:875.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Great Britain: Victoria Young Head Proof Penny 1
<B>Victoria Young Head Proof Penny 1859,</B></I> S-3948, Peck-1520 (rated "extremely rare"), copper, PR64 BN NGC, a beautiful and very choice example of this rarity, the final year of issue for this type aside from the almost never seen 1860/59. Surfaces are gorgeous, strike is crisp on both sides, and the eye-appeal is exceptionally fine. One of the finest to be found anywhere, and an important copper rarity. Belongs in a first-rate penny or Victorian collection!<BR>C. Wilson Peck was curator at the British Museum when he authored his now-classic reference on copper and bronze coins of the British Isles in 1960, with the (final) 2nd edition appearing in 1964. It is a masterful work, as countless collectors have come to understand by studying its voluminous details. Peck's work was the result of his study of the British Museum's collection for years, as well as many other coins, including his own collection. He notes on page 407 of his 2nd edition that the Proof pennies of 1859 were "Late Mint strikings," by which he doubtless meant they were Proofs of Record, probably struck in the early years of the new bronze coinage (1860-63?), a time when bronze proofs were being made for (mostly) museum holdings. It was probably realized at that time that few proofs of the entire copper Young Head penny series had been made, and that for perpetuity some should be created, and saved for future students of the coinage. The Act of Union of 1800 had called for the striking of "proofs for the record" in each year, but many years saw nothing struck. What was created in the 1859 Proof penny, in reality, was a great rarity of the series, something elegant that signified the end of a long coinage made of nearly pure copper, just then giving way to the new bronze pieces. The undercurrent was that inflation was eating away at the value of the currency, the hard metal money, and as copper increased in price it became necessary to find an alternative, bronze. The new metal was also harder and lasted longer before wearing down in use. As well, an age had been passing as Victoria aged, no longer the young lass she was in 1837 when she assumed the throne from her aged uncle, William. The bloom of innocence, so to speak, was also dying out. The Romantic Age was by 1859 nothing more than a memory. Byron and Keats were both dead. Their poetry had inspired an age. Soldiering was no longer viewed as a dashing experience, not after the horrid war in Russia of 1854-56 (on the Crimean peninsula). Soon would come "Victoria's little wars," bloody if valorous affairs. The empire was strong but the world was changing. Here, in this marvelous penny, we have a precious memento of those halcyon days. It is to be cherished.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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