British and World Coins, Historical Medals and Tokens

Victoria (1837-1901), Crown, 1893, lvii (ESC. 305; SC. 170). Good extremely fine, a little friction to high points and a small scratch on monarch’s cheek, fields excellent with minimal scuffing, very rare in this state, lightly cleaned (£150-200)

The overwhelming majority of surviving 1893 Crowns are of the regnal year LVI, and, in the opinion of the cataloguer, coins dated LVII are far rarer than is often recognised, particularly in the higher grades. ESC gives this variety a rarity of ‘R’, while Coincraft’s SC quotes a price of £220 for uncirculated examples, a figure only about 20% above the price (£180), the compilers record for LVI issues. (Though, in fairness, the SC figures are intended to reflect market demand rather than relative rarity.) In contrast Coins Market Values [1995 edition], quotes £125 and £250 respectively for mint state specimens – a far wider range: and EMC, though a work not always entirely reliable, gives the LVII variety a rarity rating of R2 for both EF and Mint state examples – a degree of rarity which is fully justified, in our view, and one that may even underestimate the surviving population of high grade coins.