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.****
I do not have a firm explanation; however, nearly all the 1807 restrike halfpennies I have viewed are relatively unattractive. I purchased my first example from a dealer in London in 2019. At the time, he had three or four examples on offer from his cabinet. I selected what I thought was the nicest example, which is also listed in this set. For years that was the nicest example of the type I had encountered. Then my friend Cory came along with this gem, which he had been hoarding away for over two decades by the time I first got to view it in hand. As readers are likely already aware, I am bit sentimental. To this end, the neither example of this type will ever be replaced. Both are too intertwined with meaningful memories. Oh well, I suppose there are worse things to endure than having two nice coins in your forever collection. 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. Both loops and loose ends of the riband are visible. The loose ends are comparatively long and near the end of the shoulder truncation. It is unclear if the lump obscuring the upper portion of the ear is meant to be a leaf or a curl. A large, but poorly defined mass of hair protrudes down and obscures the King’s temple. His drapery is secured to his right shoulder by a brooch of eight circular jewels. The third and sixth jewels are weakly defined. In fact, the sixth jewel is almost entirely absent. The shoulder truncation is weakly striated, and
K. appears raised superseding the striations. 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. The date
1807 appears centered below the bust. The entire obverse design is contained within a thin raised rim. There are notable peculiarities throughout the obverse legend. For instance, look at the first “G”, The lower limb of the first “E”, the “X”, and the upper serif of the “7”.
Reverse: Britannia is depicted facing left, wearing a close-fitting drapery, sitting on a rock surrounded by waves. A small tiara is present on her head. Her hair is kept neatly in a bun, with what appears to be a single strand flowing down and resting on the back of her neck. Her right arm is extended, and her hand holds an olive-branch with ten leaves and two berries. The lowest leaf is detached from the stem. One of the more peculiar errors occurs on Britannia’s pointer finger, which has an odd berry-like shape attached at the end. It should be noted that this is not considered a berry. 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). A raised
K appears in the space between the butt of the spear and shield. A rock protrudes from behind the right side of the shield. The mintmark
SOHO occurs on a pendant attached to the lower portion of rock just below the shield. A patch of sea appears in the background to the right of Britannia. A 3-masted warship with a flag attached to the poop (i.e., a deck above the main deck) appears on the horizon of the sea in the background in front of her leg. Both areas of the sea in the background are weak and show very little detail. The foreground is sharply cut against an exergue line, which creates an empty space below the main device. The legend “BRITANNIA” appears closely wrapper within an inner beaded border, which is further contained within a thin raised rim. Britannia is covered in numerous patches of very fine die rust.
Edge: Plain
Notes: Not all of the 1807 restrike halfpennies posses nice reflective fields. It is this facet that draws my attention to both examples in my collection. The first example is somewhat muted by the colorful toning; however, the current example has perfectly unencumbered mirror-like fields, which are complemented by that orangish color I discussed previously as it relates to the restrikes retained by the Boulton family. Otherwise, this coin has an even chestnut brown appearance. I sincerely doubt a nicer example of this variety exists, but I would love to see if it did. Peck (1970) notes that the it is uncertain how Taylor concocted the obverse, but a more recent article by Pearce (2007) entitled “A Missing Link: How Taylor Made the 1807 Proof Halfpenny Obverse Die” published in the British Numismatic Journal goes a long way to addressing that confusion.