Owner Comments:
****This is one of several coins that hold a special place within my larger collection. It resided in the Boulton Family Estate Collection until it was retailed by my late friend Bill McKivor (a well-respected dealer) in the early 2000s. From there, it was sold to my late friend, Cory Collins, who held onto it for over two decades before selling it to me. Along with this coin, Cory generously sold me several other Soho restrikes from the Boulton Family Estate, which are all denoted with both the Boulton and Collins provenances. Although these pieces are beautiful, rare, and well preserved, the joy I experience from owning them is derived from the memories I formed with Cory over the years of our friendship. We made a point to see each other every FUN show and these visits quickly became the highlight of my numismatic calendar. In the intermediary, we would often spend several hours a week chatting on the phone about the minutiae of the Soho Mint that would otherwise be lost to the average collector. I deeply miss my friend, but I am grateful that these coins remind me of all the great memories we shared over the years.****
One of the more interesting parts about studying the Taylor strikes is observing how he married multiple obverse dies to a single reverse die. In this case, the current coin shares a common reverse die with P-1258 (the one with the King wearing an obnoxiously large crown). It is important to note that it is not always possible to discern the exact order in which the different varieties were struck. The best we can do is make educated assumptions based on the physical characteristics of the pieces; however, this is far from an exact science. For instance, the current piece is designated as aP-1260, but it shares the same reverse with P-1258. This might lead to the assumption that the P-1258 was produced prior to the P-1260. However, looking at the common reverse of the two varieties, there is no evidence to support such an assumption. More specifically, there is no major progression in the numerous die cracks, which suggests to me that these pieces may have been struck simultaneously. Peck rates this variety as
very scarce.
Obverse: The obverse design depicts the draped bust of King George III facing right. His hair is adorned with a laurel wreath consisting of ten leaves and three berries, which is tied behind his head with a riband. It is interesting to note that Peck (1970) seems to imply that there are eleven leaves in the wreath, but I only count ten. The tip of the uppermost right leaf appears to float above the King’s head, likely due to over polishing. A large curl obscures the upper portion of the King’s ear. A large curly strand of hair falls beside his neck and comes to a rest on his right shoulder. The curl terminates in a crescent shape. A large lump of hair with three distinct strands (raised crescent shapes) appears behind his neck resting on the back of his right shoulder. Another curl, the top of which is essentially obliterated by die rust rests on his left shoulder. His drapery is secured to his right shoulder by a brooch of six square jewels arranged in a semi-circle. Within the truncation of the shoulder appears
K. centered in relief. The bust comes to curved end without a discernable center point. The legend “GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX” appears tightly curved around the beaded inner border, which is further contained within a thin raised rim. The entire legend is doubled, with a ghost impression formed to the left each letter. The toning makes it more difficult to detect on the left side, but it is very prominent throughout GRATIA. There is a notable die crack extending from the rim through the “G” and bisecting the leftmost portion of the shoulder truncation. There are multiple areas throughout the King’s effigy that are covered in fine patches of die rust. Likewise, there are numerous areas of similar die rust appearing in the fields. A relatively large lump of die rust appears near the beaded border by the first “G”. There is clear evidence of filing throughout the rim. This is most notable from eleven to two o’clock.
Reverse: Britannia is depicted facing left, wearing a close-fitting drapery, sitting on a rock surrounded by waves. Her right arm is extended, and her hand holds an olive-branch with 14 leaves and no berries. The lump that appears attached to the inner part of the stem is die rust. Her left arm is down with a trident clasped in her grasp. The middle prong points to the left limb of the “N” in “BRITANNIA”. To her left is an oval shield with a thin raised rim adorns the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew (heraldically colored). Peck (1964) notes that a thin raised line appears around the shield, but it is incomplete toward the bottom right of the shield. Under magnification, this almost gives the appearance of the shield being partially dug into the ground. The space between the butt of the spear and shield is almost devoid of detail except for four small horizontal lines. The mintmark “SOHO” occurs on a rock just below the shield, and a series of three raised dots in a triangular shape appears on the rock behind the shield. A 3-masted warship with a poop (i.e., a deck above the main deck) appears in the sea in front of her about halfway down her leg. The sea is weak in places and shows very little detail. Peck notes that the original ship had been polished off and replaced with a very crudely engraved one. This is very apparent when comparing this ship with those engraved by Kuchler, which makes Taylor’s look like something out of a cartoon. Peck also notes that there are no gun ports, and an irregular lump (i.e., raised bump) occurs under the stern. The sea is curved, and a large flaw (i.e., a die crack) occurs from the bottom of the sea extending through Britannia’s foot and eventually tracing the edge of the sea and concluding in almost equal height to the foremast. The date “1799” occurs just under the curved sea, with the “1” completely separated from the sea. Two large die cracks occur on both sides of the last “9” in the date. The legend “BRITANNIA” occurs within a thin, raised rim and toothed borders. The numerous rust spots throughout the fields and the weak spots in the drapery and sea attest to the fact that this a restrike made from heavily repolished and altered dies.
Edge: Plain
Notes: Of the Taylor restrikes held by the Boulton estate, this is one of the few that does not have the same profoundly unusual orangish color. In fact, both sides are pleasantly brown and exactly what one would hope for when pursuing a bronzed piece for their collection. It is unclear when this variety was produced, but by this time Taylor had worked out most of the issues he experienced with the bronzing process. Although not on par with the output of the Soho Mint, this coin is a notable improvement to the earlier bronzed pieces produced by Taylor. It is important to note that this variety is one of the more commonly available 1799 restrikes; however, this is not to imply that it is common in the strictest sense of the word. In fact, most of the Taylor restrikes, with a few notable exceptions (e.g., P-1309), are far more difficult to find relative to “rare” American coins (e.g., 1916 D Dime, 1916 Quarter, 1909 S VBD Cent, etc.). As a former collector of such coins, I can make this statement without the pretext of being misinformed. I just happen to prefer collecting older and relatively less available coins for a fraction of the price!