THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

THE COLLECTOR SERIES
1799 of George Prince of Wales as Seneschal of Scot-
land, and the five-pound piece of Victoria (1839), of
which the first and most rare issue omits the garter on
the shoulder of the Queen, has a plain edge, and reads
Dirigit for Dirigc. The sovereign of l!Si37 is the
prototype of the fascinating coinage of 1839. To the
Victorian era belong the Gothic crown (1846), of which
a rare variety has the decoltc drapery, disapproved (it
is said) by Prince Albert ; the florin (1848-51-87-93),
the double florin (1887), the substitution of the bronze
coins with the artificial portrait for the copper (1860),
and the withdrawal of the groat (1856). There are
four types of the florin, the first having been sup-
pressed because it omitted D. G. in the legend. In the
armorial shield on her Majesty's coinage, the crown of
Hanover having passed to the next male heir, the escut-
cheon of pretence was omitted. There are also numerous
patterns, notably those for a proposed international
coinage—the 4s. and 2s. or dollar and half-dollar in
gold, and the dime, centum, and other essays in silver
for the florin of 1848. The double florin was coined
only in 1887; for the £5 and the £2 pieces the call is
very restricted. The so-called Jubilee series of 1887
and the current one are scarcely entitled to attention.
They equally run from £5 to 3d. A new bronze
coinage similar to the gold and silver is nearly ready,
but has been delayed by the too close resemblance of
the farthing to the half-sovereign—a chronic fatality !
It remains to offer some observations on the Irish
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