1866 Threepences, or A2 vs. A4 vs. Maundy

[VickySilver]

This date of threepence is a bit of a rascal, and very hard to run down in the sources such as ESC, Davies, Spink & Krause. There was a DNW lot, supposedly proof and NOT Maundy.

DNW Sale specimen was 18 Sept. 2012, Lot 2727 evidently proof, certainly not currency that fits best to Spink cat. 3914C. The lot description states Maundy was only of the first A2 type (same as first currency type). Can anyone verify that all Maundy was of the A2 type?

OK, I admit I usually don't like the microvarietals but it is Victorian silver after all!

According to DNW the revision for 1866 3d should be:

A2

Currency

Maundy

Unknown in Proof *

A4

Currency

Proof (unique?)

Both A4s are quite rare, if anybody cares but just wondering how it can be said that there are NO Maundies of this type?

[Nick]

I can't say for certain that there would be no A4 Maundy 1866 threepences, but it seems unlikely. If the obverse 3 dies existed as early as Feb/Mar 1866 when the Maundy coins were struck then I would expect a lot more examples of A4 1866 threepences to exist. I suspect that the A4 1866 examples were struck at/near the end of the production run for 1866 threepences, when it is more likely that dies for obverse 3 would exist.

[Nick]

I presume you've seen this 1866 threepence in the Heritage archive? It's an A4 and certainly looks like a Maundy. The NGC slab doesn't mention Maundy but the Heritage description does.

[VickySilver]

Wow, nice bit of research there Nick. That looks Maundy to me as well. So that seems to support that there are Maundy. The Heritage bit does not look quite as nice as the DNW piece which ended up not selling in 2012 but did sell as Lot 580 in March of 2013.

Can you give away the trade secret as to your search function?

[Nick]

Can you give away the trade secret as to your search function?

No trade secrets at all. Just go to the Heritage archive and type "1866 threepence" (without quotes) into the search box and voila. Screenshot attached so that you can see whether your filters match what I have used.

[VickySilver]

Hope you were able to get that lot. I have an "ordinary" Maundy 3d of that date in satin variety. I guess I wouldn't necessarily have thought of Heritage for an obscure varietal.

[Nick]

Hope you were able to get that lot. I have an "ordinary" Maundy 3d of that date in satin variety. I guess I wouldn't necessarily have thought of Heritage for an obscure varietal.

No, I didn't buy that lot. Mainly because I didn't spot it, but also because the shipping costs are prohibitive for small value items. Added to which Heritage rarely put the correct HS code on the Customs form, meaning that the carrier charges UK Import VAT at 20% rather than 5% (and it's a hassle to reclaim the difference).

I have an 1866 threepence 2+A die pairing (photo attached).

[Coinery]

Pretty little coin that, Nick, I do love the small stuff very much!

[Nick]

Pretty little coin that, Nick, I do love the small stuff very much!

Thanks. I do too.

[VickySilver]

I will have to post the currency A4 although its on loan at the moment. I bought it in the UK some years ago, complete with a flowery description by the seller who I gather had been a collector, proclaiming it as the "discovery piece". Honestly I don't even remember what I paid for it!