1857 sixpence VICTOBIA error

[scott]

bought this a while back because of the slightly smaller looking 5, had a look again a few weeks later and noted the R in Victoria has been replaced by a B, you can see the the tail of the R but the letter is clearly a B

[Martinminerva]

8 hours ago, scott said:

noted the R in Victoria has been replaced by a B, you can see the the tail of the R but the letter is clearly a B

Think it is just a scratch that runs through the letter and has displaced some of the metal of leg of the R. Given that the coin has clearly been through the wars - looks like a detector find - with all its various dings and scratches, for me it is just damage. Can you do a much enlarged / better resolution pic to help be sure? I have blown up your existing image which I think shows the scratch:

 

[Peckris 2]

It looks clearly like a B to me - if you look at the other three Rs on the obverse there is a clear gap between the left down stroke and the curve of the R

[Martinminerva]

An over-letter would not account for the sharp gap between the round bottom bulb of the "B" and the vestigial leg of the R, whereas a scratch and metal displacement would. All other proven B over R's or R over B's on other Victorian denominations show no such gap as metal flow on the die when corrections are made maintains smoothness. I'm not saying it's categorically not, but we need a much clearer picture to be certain either way. This is the best I can do with the original supplied image - I'm sure I can see a scratch...

[Michael-Roo]

Agreed, PMD. It has clipped the outer curve of the upper loop too.

Edited September 19, 2024 by Michael-Roo