For decades now I have been quietly collecting the model coinage of Great Britain. I have scores of pieces in my collection including over two dozen Mint State varieties of Joseph Moore’s bi-metallic Model Halfpenny and Penny pieces. I also have the Jubilee Model coinage of Victoria in multiple varieties and in the highest grades I’ve been able to locate in all my many years of pursuit of the series. The tiniest of these items is the series of 1848-dated model coinage that comes in such denominations as quarter farthing, half farthing, and farthing, as well as higher denominations. I have multiples of each denomination; all are in high grade and many are fully brilliant and lustrous. All of this stems from my love of all things Queen Victoria, be it coinage, tokens, or paper ephemera. For years my collection has grown as I cherrypicked beautiful model pieces from bourse floor cases at what I consider a mere pittance for most pieces. And I’m still at it, and quite successfully I might add, as there doesn’t seem to be much competition in this discipline.
But now let’s move on to this installment’s items. The two pieces shown here are the only two error model pieces I’ve ever located and, curiously enough, both pieces were purchased from English merchants via an Internet bidding site. The first is an 1848-dated model quarter farthing piece struck in copper. There is a sizeable – for this tiny issue – rim clip from 7 to 9 o’clock in relation to the obverse. Considering that the piece is but 10 mm. in diameter, the clip truly engages much of the token. This copper piece is struck in coin turn.
My other error model coin is a 10 mm model penny dated 1848. Struck in brass and silvered, this tiny item has lost much of its silvering over the past 168 years but I forgive it anyway. It was struck nominally off-center to 9 o’clock in relation to the obverse and a broad – relatively speaking, again – tab engages the obverse rim from 8 to 12 o’clock and the reverse rim from 12 to 6 o’clock owing to the medal turn of the piece.
I suppose if I tallied my collection it would number well over 100 pieces, but quality and beauty come before quantity in my collection or there could easily be hundreds. Of all the pieces by Moore, Bamberger, Lauer, Hyams, and the anonymous makers I have, none thrill me as much as my teenie-tiny errors!
