Victorian Shillings

[Mynki]

As per my other thread really. Hypothetical question, of which I do have an interest though...

If you were wanting to start a collection of victorian shillings, which years would be :-

The most reasonable in terms of price?

The easiest to find?

The most desirable?

Finally, how common are these in gEF and UNC?

[Mr T]

1838 to 1901?

1887 is probably easy enough, like most other denominations of that year.

[VickySilver]

Think I'd stick to the Young Heads, the Jubs and Widows just don't do anything for most people (well, me at least). The earlier Young Heads appear much more crisply executed - which they were - and are a lot more attractive. I suppose it comes down to a matter of budget, but some years are not all that dear: 1842, 1864, 1866, etc. Attractive and well preserved examples are out there.

Might have to don a suit of armour to compete for the 1848/6s and 1850, 52, 54, 63, etc. in top grade.

[copper123]

I disagee the widow head shilling is a fine coin!! Only a personal opinion though

[Rob]

28 minutes ago, VickySilver said:

 

Might have to don a suit of armour to compete for the 1848/6s and 1850, 52, 54, 63, etc. in top grade.

51 maybe, but not 52

[Paulus]

21 minutes ago, copper123 said:

I disagee the widow head shilling is a fine coin!! Only a personal opinion though

Yes, I think the OH reverse is a splendid design, much prefer it to th YH reverses

[VickySilver]

Oops, meant 1851 as the 1852 is one of the more common dates. Yikes!

[copper123]

MMMMMmmmmmmmdrools at that OH shilling!

[Mynki]

LC have a couple of '52's in stock now rated 82 and 85 but no pictures yet for either.

[Mr T]

As for commonness, I've seen a number of young heads in VF-EF for sale lately so they're not out of reach (probably).

[Stuntman]

I really like the Widow Head shilling design too, on both sides of the coin.  In fact I think the shilling, florin and halfcrown of that era are all lovely.

1883 is pretty reasonable in terms of price I think for a Young Head (4th Young Head).  For the different types of Young Head in the lower grades that I tend to collect (VF to GVF), I have found that 1856, 1874 and 1883 have tended to be lower priced.  

I've never seen an 1839 WW so I suspect that 1838 is the lower priced option for the first Young Head?

 

[Paulus]

1 hour ago, Stuntman said:

In fact I think the shilling, florin and halfcrown of that era are all lovely

Agreed! What's not to like about these designs! Each to his own of course ...

[jaggy]

Agree that those reverse designs are vey nice. However, for the obverse, I have always liked the YH better than the JH or OH.

[Mynki]

Yep, 1887 must surely be the most common. I've only found one 1850 for sale, not that I've tried hard to look. It's in poor condition and still out of my price range! Even if it wasn't I'm not sure I could justify the cost to myself. I appreciate they're very rare, but it's still just a Vicky shilling. Does anyone feel the same? I can see the attraction if it were in a high grade, but with so much detail gone it doesn't scream buy me...

There is a CGS 82 graded 1859 on fleabay, the seller wants £510 for it. He quotes last years Spink quotation of £525 (They're £625 this year) but rather bemusingly, if you enter the UIN in CGS it values the coin at just £350, whilst the Rotagraphic book of collectors coins states £300 so I think he'll struggle to sell that. LC have an 85 graded 1859 shilling available at £450 too. 

[VickySilver]

Please save yourself some quid and duck buying from the LC sales site - those are high. The 1859 is not rare either but can come very nice and almost proof-like.

I will go ahead and hold out for the obverse of the Young Head earlier issues and they IMO are a lot more pleasing than Vick with that crazy Jub crown or the sour and dour Widow Head. I'll concede the reverse of the earlier shillings  as being a bit plain, even of higher relief than the later bits...

[Mynki]

13 minutes ago, VickySilver said:

Please save yourself some quid and duck buying from the LC sales site - those are high. The 1859 is not rare either but can come very nice and almost proof-like.

I will go ahead and hold out for the obverse of the Young Head earlier issues and they IMO are a lot more pleasing than Vick with that crazy Jub crown or the sour and dour Widow Head. I'll concede the reverse of the earlier shillings  as being a bit plain, even of higher relief than the later bits...

Not bought any shillings from LC.

I just mentioned them in relation to the very high price on ebay. The thread was really to discuss these coins and flesh out details, such as "1859 is not rare either but can come very nice and almost proof-like". I know there are a few Victorian silver coins that appear proof like, but are not actual proofs. What other shillings can be like this? 

I'll be looking out for more on DNW, Heritage ans LC auctions. If you know of any other good sources then please let me know. 

Thanks in advance

[VickySilver]

Interesting as I was just looking over my shillings to see if there were possible upgrades and see Proolike strikes on most years from 1838-1849 & then some more in the 1850s as well. Also, the 1880s and right on through the Jubs - some of those that have been listed as Record proofs from non-standard years such as 1889-91 IMO are not fully proof; nor are they substantially different or better from some of the PLs I've seen.