Best Book/resource for Victoria Silver coinage Errors

[Unwilling Numismatist]

As per the title, which books are the most accurate/useful for Victorian silver coin errors please.

Christmas is coming and "santa" needs some extra ideas, so more additions to the library are highly probable

 

Additionally are there any specific online resources for Vicky silver which I may not have stumbled upon, but which are a gold mine of silver info?

 

Thanks!

[Rob]

Davies has more 'errors' in it than ESC, though neither are comprehensive because people are continually finding unrecorded varieties. Error lists are usually compiled by the collector and gradually find their way into published references if they have engraving origins such as corrected letters. The problem with errors is that they can be striking errors which may or may not be one-offs and not intentional, such as brockages, off-centre strikes, out of collar strikes etc. These will never get a comprehensive listing. 

[Unwilling Numismatist]

Thanks Rob, my ESC is overdue for an update. Davies will hopefully be joining me for a turkey sandwhich and a quiet couple of hours on the 25th

 

[Rob]

6 minutes ago, Unwilling Numismatist said:

Thanks Rob, my ESC is overdue for an update. Davies will hopefully be joining me for a turkey sandwhich and a quiet couple of hours on the 25th

 

The ESC update was a bit of a disaster in my opinion as the previous rarity values were taken verbatim as far as I can see. There are a few things added such as prooflike examples of an otherwise standard coin, which in my view is just an early strike from better polished dies. It doesn't make it a proof and therefore is not worthy of cataloguing as a separate variety. Adding in a few of these and not proof reading properly means there is a disagreement in the concordance with the previous ESC numbering. This catches up at Ed.VII by leaving a few gaps in the numbering, which asks the question why was it not done properly in the first place. There are more varieties in the 6th edition compared to the 5th, but a corrected ESC would be preferable. And it falls apart easily based on my sample of 1 book.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Rob

[Unwilling Numismatist]

Thank you again, Rob. You;ve raised some very objective points and I'll certainly take them into consideration when I get an updated version. My (inherited) copy is more than 1 revision out, and I wasn't sure if there was anything else which could be considered a "better" guide.

 

 

[Sleepy]

Found another error with the latest ESC last night, the standard George IV are listed on pages marked "Pattern Crowns" spent 15 mins searching for the No of a 1822 crown until I realized what the problem is. However even with the faults it is, along with Davies, an invaluable book for the silver collector.

[Unwilling Numismatist]

Thanks Sleepy.

[VickySilver]

Bull also has some proposed issues for which numbers are given with no actual coins known. 

Also a small point but some of the later (George V through George VI) "VIP Record Proof" and "Matte Proof" bits are incorrect. PM if further info might be required.

[Unwilling Numismatist]

Thanks Vicky,

I hope to spend some considerable time accumulating much more of your namesake before I get to the later Georges - obviously if I can bag anything decent at sill money along the way, I'll not be rude enough to refuse.

If I could go back in time to when I started, I'd probably tell myself to aim for a monarch with far less cost and variety involved