1 Crown - Victoria 'Gothic' type (1847–1853)

About the 1847 1 Crown - Victoria 'Gothic' type

The 1847 1 Crown - Victoria 'Gothic' type is a circulating 1 crown coin issued from 1847 to 1853, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 28.3g and measures 38.6mm across. Reverse design: Crowned cruciform shields of England, Scotland and Ireland around central Garter star with national flower emblems in angles, date below in Roman numerals.

A mintage of 8,000 is recorded for one date of this type; figures for each year are not held.

Common questions

History and design

In 1847 William Wyon produced a crowned portrait of the Queen in the Gothic style then fashionable, and the Royal Mint Museum records that it was adopted for the proof crowns of that year and later for the florins of 1849. Wikipedia ties the coin to the Gothic revival in architecture and design.

The Royal Mint describes the lettered-edge Gothic crowns as proofs limited to 8,000 pieces, a figure Wikipedia and Coin Hunter repeat. Tony Clayton adds that a number certainly entered circulation, and that pieces dated 1853 were made for the proof set of that year. Coin Hunter records 460 of the 1853 proofs.

The obverse shows a young, crowned and draped bust of the Queen facing left, with a small WW incuse on the truncation, inside a border of trefoils and arcs. The legend is in lower-case gothic letters: victoria dei gratia britanniar. reg: f: d.

On the reverse, the crowned shields of England, Scotland and Ireland are arranged in a cross with the national emblems in the angles and the Garter star at the centre. The legend tueatur unita deus anno dom mdcccxlvii gives the date in Roman numerals. The Royal Mint's specification names William Dyce as reverse designer and Wyon as the engraver. The lettered edge reads decus et tutamen anno regni undecimo, "an ornament and a safeguard in the eleventh year of her reign".

Varieties and errors

Clayton and Coin Hunter list both dates with a lettered edge and with a plain edge. The Royal Mint notes an inverted die axis on the 1847 coin, so the reverse is upside down relative to the obverse.

Collecting notes

The first check is the edge: lettered UNDECIMO pieces are the 8,000; plain-edge pieces are a separate, much rarer proof. Coin Hunter lists the type by edge and date, so a description that does not state the edge is incomplete.

The Gothic style was carried over to the Gothic florin. The ordinary Young Head crown was struck the same year. All crowns since 1818 remain legal tender at 25p, according to Wikipedia citing the Royal Mint Museum.