Owner Comments:
S-3852C, Marsh 31 (Scarce)
2nd Large Head
Acquired from: The Coin Cabinet, London
Means: Auction 99 Lot 8
Date: 5 December 2023
Critique: A scruffy looking example of this early Vic date, not very high grade. Purchased as a raw, ungraded coin in this auction. Normally I would have had no interest in this specimen, however the image in the auction catalog was intriguing. It seemed to show a significantly flattened top to the numeral 8 in the date, characteristic of the rare variety 1848/7 in which the 8 was re-punched over a 7. There was quite a bit of darkening in this area, and so the picture was not really conclusive. But with nothing else to go on, I decided to take a gamble and buy it since the price was only a couple hundred US$ over melt.
When the coin arrived in the mail, even under 2X magnification I could not determine if this was 8/7 or not, so I sent it in to NGC to have a detailed PhotoVision image made. This is the image attached to this listing. Unfortunately, with much better lighting and higher magnification, it's clear that what appeared to be a flattened top on the 8 was really due to some damage caused during circulation. The top has completely normal rounding, but there is a definite ledge due to the damage. Although I requested the coin be certified as 1848/7 on my submission sheet, the professional NGC graders were not fooled and they have correctly assigned it to be the normal dated coin.
I did notice one interesting thing when I added this to my London complete mint set (1817-date). A quick review of the top 30 sets in the category shows that only one other collector has one registered here. However, there are several other examples registered in the London Victoria only category. So apparently specializing in just the Victorian issues from the London mint is far more popular than trying to complete the entire set of milled coins. I suppose that does make sense.
Well, just another failed gamble, to be added to my growing pile of similar flops. Usually on minor disasters like this, I believe that if I'd had the opportunity to view the coin in person before the auction I would have avoided the mistake. But in this particular case, even with the coin in my hands for over a month I could not determine the true situation. So I think it was worth the risk, and it won't deter me from taking similar low-cost gambles in the future.