1887jubilee

I think I can help with your missing 1887 double florins but be prepared to find there are more varieties than you have listed. both missing proof Arabic and Roman I are in current auctions but be prepared to part with £1,000 Look on sixbid or The Saleroom.com. the currency 1+B I have duplicates. What condition did you want or roughly how much do you want to spend? There is of course the 2+A proof as well as the 2+B, 2+Bclose 7 and the 1+A proofs The 2+B is most common.

1887 YH Sovereign UK of which there are two types. Shield back or St. George.

Yes and we all know how many different 1887 sixpences there are!

I started like that. I only collect 1887 Victoria Uk. 10 years later and 200 different ones in the collection still over 100 to buy. When you think you have done it write the book. Yes over 340 to find

I have a recent one if it is of use.

I have bought lots of coins from them and the quality has been very high. I have no problems

I think you better do an actual count and see what you have. I know it is difficult but I did mine using my fingernail as a light clicker round the rim. I emphasise LIGHT. Gold is so soft.This will not work if you chew your fingernails.

I thought for a minute this might have been posted on April 1st. but I see it has not. So I have compared 10 x 1887 half sovereigns YH JH London, Melbourne & Sydney. Close JEB, spread JEB, no JEB and proof. A painstaking process which made me double check the date of posting again to make sure you were not having me on. I have not weighed them. The result is 109 lands and troughs + or - 2. you need a very steady hand eye coordination to do this. How many are on the 1889S?

.25p is 240% profit on face value. 240d to the £

I am sure there will be many helpful answers to this post. For myself if there is anything of 1887 I would be interested

Entirely agree. The broken tails problem on the rev. "Roman I" die is progressive and you can find specimens with lions 4,5 & 6 (counting from the date) most often damaged. Similarly the shield on the Scotish lion is damaged on the "Arabic" rev. This too is progresive and even seen on the proof Arabic. This is quite plausible as "proofs" were issued into 1888. If we could build a better data base of these coins we could eventually have a decision committee rather like that used to authenticate paintings. VickySilver for Chairman? Any votes?

I have been studying these and the other 1887 denominations for 20 years and it does not get any easier. As time goes on what was once obvious and, came in an original cased set to prove it, is no longer helpful as so many sets have been broken up. What I can say is the the cased curency set I have would, for the quality of coins, pass as proof for several of the pieces. Knowing this I have become VERY critical of proof status. Even the American piece I posted above though certified has rims with raised edges and, shine though it might, I would hesitate without having the coin in hand. I admit your coin is a cracker and if it were a curency piece at £100+ it would be fine. But when a proof is £1,000+ you have to be so careful. It has a lovely tone but given the knocks, wear on the lion and rims I would have to say it is probably not one of the 1084.recorded. The Royal Mint are very helpful and will tell you if you take or post it.

Don't forget there are several different 1887 double florins. Say about 25 but I don't want to make life too difficult for you early on. I had the impression there were 11+ maundy =15 coins in the 1887 series but now I know of over 300! I must admit this includes the patterns, proofs, specimens and toy money by Lauer but still it is daunting to build a collection.

Yes the Roman 1887 4/- is probably up around R4 There is a big question mark over the specimen set proof like coins.

I have been working with these double florins for about 10 years but only just spotted your post. Can you let me know if the 1887 is on an Arabic or Roman 1 reverse? At first the comparison with 1888 is rather pointless as the 1887 is clearly not even aligned to the same beads. The serifs are broken and worn so perhaps this is the thrust of what they are saying. In comparison with other 1887 double florins the example you give just seems from a rather worn die. Nothing could be more normal. given the minting problems of the large coins. Perhaps there is something that is clear to the eye but not to the camera? I have checked my collection but not knowing exactly what they are calling broken I have been unable to pinpoint the problem. The right serif has a small chip off the corner but that occurs mainly on the obv 2 Davies. Can you give me the CGS reference please and I will work further on it?

In the last few weeks London Coins offered a Roman Proof 4/- but the best looking one I have seen recently at Heritage went to an Australian bidder. see http://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/world-coins/great-britain-victoria-proof-double-florin-1887-pr66-cameo-pcgs-/a/3044-29768.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515 a very fine example

Well Hello , Yes I am still alive after a year or so out. You will all have noticed the photos posted by shagreen above show a reverse die with a Roman I but how many noticed the obverse is the die type 2 BSC. normally associated with the Arabic reverse B. I regret it is much more complicated than that as there is also a 1/A proof so in fact there are coins 1/A, 1/B 2/A and 2/B all not publishe yet so I reserve rights. Andrew

I think I go with Withers. The Galata guide is very helpful particularly giving good pictures. The EDI series is never ending you can hardly buy two coins the same when you get close in.

My 1888 four pence is a bit of a novelty as it is dated 1887. We know that no 4d pieces were issued for 1887 so I have to assume this enameled one must be an 1888 that has been altered for some reason. Unless anyone knows of 1887 with the same reverse.

Sorry I sold my spare copy 20 years ago for £60

Sorry I can only do coin monthly back to 1971 Before that it was Coin and Medal Digest

I agree and even with Spink, North and Gallata it is hard to be precise when the legend is so worn.

So many different 1887 Florins we must see a picture particularly of the obverse.

I can only add that I have an 1887 Sovereign with about 30 deg. rotation. I would say rotations are pretty rare as I have noly ever seen two in my field both on the 1887 Sov. Probably a short run of faulty coins before it was spotted and corrected.