Life with John

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) recently announced its 2023 NGC Registry Award Winners and for the fourth year in a row, “The Young Victoria Collection” was awarded Best in its Category.  The collection previously won the Best in Category award in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022. It has gotten edged out now and again since it was submitted for competition because it is intentionally limited to sovereigns with a shield reverse from 1838 to 1874, while the category in which it competes extends from 1838 until 1901, and includes sovereigns with a reverse depicting Saint George slaying a dragon.

The only new addition to the collection during 2023 was an 1855 sovereign, with “W.W.” (for William Wyon, the sculptor) appearing in relief on the truncation of Victoria’s bust. This most significantly rare variety of the 1855 sovereign was the last year the “W.W.” appeared in relief before being phased out in favor of an incused “W.W.,” which was the more common variant during 1855. The “W.W.” in relief did not reappear on sovereigns until 1870, in conjunction with the introduction of a new variety of the Young Head bust.*

For Great Britain, 1855 was a significant year for other reasons. The fall of Sebastapol in September signaled the end of the Crimean War, a costly misadventure resulting in over 600,000 dead on both sides, mostly due to disease, which was ended inconclusively by the Treaty of Paris in March 1856. When the French Second Empire collapsed after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, all agreements made at the Treaty of Paris were null, at least as far as Russia was concerned. The only lasting goodness to come of the Crimean War was the increased public awareness of war casualties and the resulting professionalization of medicine, including the Renkioi Hospital and the introduction of more formal nursing by Florence Nightingale.

The Young Victoria Collection in its entirety can be seen here.

* Steve Hill, The Bentley Collection, Baldwins, 2013, page 88

The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) recently announced its 2021 NGC Registry Award Winners and, once again, “The Young Victoria Collection” was awarded Best in its Category.  The collection previously won the Best in Category award in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. It has gotten edged out now and again since it was submitted for competition because it is intentionally limited to sovereigns with a shield reverse from 1838 to 1874, while the category in which it competes extends from 1838 until 1901, and includes sovereigns with a reverse depicting Saint George slaying a dragon.

Below is one of the highlights of the collection, an 1859 “Ansell” sovereign, so named in honor of George Frederick Ansell (1826-1880). Ansell experimented with a batch of gold that had been initially rejected by the Royal Mint for being too brittle and contaminated by traces of antimony, arsenic, and lead. Ansell’s efforts resulted in a strong alloy that enabled the Mint to strike 167,539 sovereigns from the batch, which were distinguished by an extra line on the ribbon holding Victoria’s hair. Today only 15-25 Ansell sovereigns are known to exist; this example is the finest.

The Young Victoria Collection in its entirety can be seen here.