Victorian Rarity: 1863/1 Shilling, Guess the Grade if You'd Like

7Jaguars

This came from a British auction venue not long ago, and appreciated by some of the best of dealers there as being perhaps the finest seen:

coinkat

Terrific looking coin... The image is not ideal for offering an grade opinion. Looks MS... Could make 65

1960NYGiants

Looks like it could be a proof or specimen strike. Nice.

coinkat

Gene... That thought crossed my mind as well and ruled out the probability based on the rims. I would expect sharper rims... could easily could be an early die state example

7Jaguars

I agree, there are a lot of die prep lines, actually possibly of the puncheon for the obverse device. Very proof like fields in hand as well - these are the type of coins you have to stretch for IMO.

Jackthecat1

I would call it a 65 or 66. Nice strong overdate.

asheland

That's NICE! MS65? 66?

7Jaguars

I will say in hand that the coin looks IMO even better. However, this was BODYBAGGED for cleaning! Forget what I think, it's funny how the very best there are felt it to be a superior specimen of a rare date. I was having a devil of a time finding one that was even EF until this one showed up.

brg5658

Impossible to tell anything about what the surfaces actually look like from a photo like that. All of the fields are blown out with too much light. Nice detail though.

wybrit

I think it's a lovely piece. Sorry that it was BB'ed. What kind of cleaning does it have? Hairlines? Somethig else?

7Jaguars

Well, they called hairlines. Don't see them under all lights and magnification, so am a bit perplexed in this which is a major rarity in higher grades for Victorian silver.

wybrit

In order to see hairlines on photos you usually have to tilt the coin a bit.

7Jaguars

Hey that sounds like a riddle there....