Victoria Sovereign With Contemporary Spanish Platinum Counterfeit

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 1397. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $1150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

HANOVER. Victoria. 1837-1901. AV Sovereign (8.00 g, 6h). Second young head issue. London mint. Dated 1871. Head left, wearing fillet; date below / Crowned royal coat-of-arms within wreath; in exergue, 28 (reverse die) above thistle, rose, and shamrock. Lot also includes a Spanish-made platinum counterfeit (7.92 g) 1861 second young head issue sovereign. For sovereign: Marsh 55; cf. Schneider 647; SCBC 3853B; for platinum counterfeit: cf. Marsh 44; cf. Schneider 643; cf. SCBC 3852 . Both coins near EF, die break on platinum counterfeit.

Beginning about 1860 and continuing until about 1881, Spain made platinum counterfeits of English sovereigns, and examples dated between 1861 and 1872 have been recorded. Little is known regarding these counterfeits. Platinum is denser than gold, but by alloying platinum with an appropriate amount of copper, the metal could be brought to the correct density. Once struck, the “coin” was then gold plated, making it an extremely effective counterfeit. The practice is thought to have stopped when the price of platinum exceeded its value as a counterfeiting material. For more on these platinum issues, see G.P. Dyer, "Counterfeit Sovereigns in Platinum," Bulletin on Counterfeits, Vol. 4, No. 2/3 (Summer/Autumn 1979), pp. 30-5.