Great Britain: Victoria Proof "Royal Cypher" Pattern Florin 1848 PR64 Cameo PCGS,...

Description

Victoria Proof "Royal Cypher" Pattern Florin 1848 PR64 Cameo PCGS, Royal mint, ESC-2928 (was ESC-896; R2). Obverse B, reverse B-ii. A sublime near-Gem of this Pattern that features the Laurel Bust of Victoria mated to the reverse featuring an intricately engraved Royal Cypher "VR" embellished with an interlinked rose, thistle, shamrock and Welsh plume. Magnificent throughout, the surfaces display alluring tones of vintage rose, pale peach and iridescent cobalt over eye-catching underlying brilliance. A genuine rarity in this condition and an ideal collector piece for the advanced connoisseur of Victorian Pattern coinage.

The 1840s through to the 1860s was a time of active experimentation in British coinage, with many new designs and innovations introduced; the Florin represented an effort to 'decimalize', to simplify the overly complex system of interlocking denominations within the British numismatic series (an effort which had been suggested as early as 1682). Being worth 2 Shillings, ten Florins equaled one Pound, a step in the right direction, and in 1847 Wyon and Dyce were tasked with designing this new denomination from the ground up. Clearly, from the number of patterns created in 1848, this was clearly not a cut-and-dried task. The pair designed pieces bearing multiple different names including 'Centum', 'Decade' and even 'Dime', but ultimately settled on 'Florin' as the Netherlands had a contemporary Gulden coin known as a Florin of the same size and value.

Metal: Silver
Diameter: 28mm

More information about Great Britain Coins. See also: Great Britain World Coin Nationality.

1848年英國「皇家花押」弗羅林精製樣幣。PR64 PCGS。
皇家造幣廠。正面B版，背面B-ii版。這枚超凡脫俗的近「Gem」樣幣展示著頭戴桂冠的維多利亞女皇像，而背面則是雕工匠心獨運的皇家花押「VR」字樣，並以相輔相成的玫瑰、薊、三葉草和威爾士羽毛加以點綴。此幣出類拔萃，底光奪目閃爍，幣面呈現出古雅悅目的玫紅、淡紅和彩鈷色澤。此幣品相卓絕，堪稱維多利亞女皇像樣幣的大名譽品。1840至1860年代是英國幣制摸索前行的時代，各款設計和新技術推陳出新。弗羅林正正是邁向十進制幣制的努力成果，以簡化過於複雜，各款面額難以互通的英國幣制（這種嘗試最早出現於1682年）。此幣價值等同2先令，而10弗羅林則等於1鎊，算是朝正確的方向邁出一步。在1847年，Wyon及Dyce著手重新設計新的面額。顯然易見的是，從1848年生產的樣幣數量可見，這項工作並非一蹴而就。這兩位設計師所操刀的作品名目眾多，包括「Centum」、「Decade」甚至「Dime」等，但最終決定為「Florin」。因為同時代的尼德蘭亦有一款名字、尺寸和面值都相同的荷蘭盾錢幣。

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