Jump to content
British Coin Forum - Predecimal.com

50 Years of RotographicCoinpublications.com A Rotographic Imprint. Price guide reference book publishers since 1959. Lots of books on coins, banknotes and medals. Please visit and like Coin Publications on Facebook for offers and updates.

Coin Publications on Facebook

   Rotographic    

The current range of books. Click the image above to see them on Amazon (printed and Kindle format). More info on coinpublications.com

predecimal.comPredecimal.com. One of the most popular websites on British pre-decimal coins, with hundreds of coins for sale, advice for beginners and interesting information.

Paddy

1840 Sixpence - is there a small head variety?

Recommended Posts

I picked up an 1840 Sixpence at auction yesterday as a potential upgrade. When I came to compare it to the existing incumbent it appears the new one has a much smaller head. No mention is made in Spink - is this a known variety, or is something else going on here? New one is on the left:

 

1840 6Ds 1 Red.JPG

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

... and the reverses for completeness:

 

1840 6Ds 2 Red.JPG

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it is an illusion. Taking a straight line from the bases of various letters to the same points on the bust, the only (marginal) difference appears to be at the top of the head. It may be that the die field on the left has been polished to a greater extent than the one on the right. This would agree with there only being a vestige of the hair curl below the bun on the LH coin compared to the right. Alternatively, you could postulate that the left hand bust is sunk to a lesser degree on the die than the one on the right.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Rob. I looked hard at that before I posted, but I am still not sure. The gap between the top of the head and the letters is appreciably bigger, and the top of the bun comes a lot lower in relation to the Ns in Britannia. It is really noticeable in hand - I am not usually good at noticing variations but this one jumped out at me as soon as I compared them.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The top of the bun looks to be thinner on the new one - which again suggests polishing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Buckets of it here! Hic!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×