Description
Victoria of the House of Hanover, Queen of the United Kingdom 1837-1901 AD, Silver Crown (28.31g, 38.5mm), 1887. Obverse: ‘Jubilee style’ bust of Queen Victoria facing to the left, wearing small crown with veil, pearl earring and necklace of 13 pearls, dress decorated with the Order of the Garter and the Order of Victoria and Albert, engraver’s initials ‘J.E.B.’ (Joseph Edgar Boehm) raised on truncation, legend surrounds, “VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITT: REGINA F:D:”. Reverse: Saint George, wielding sword and wearing plumed helmet and billowing cloak, mounted atop his horse which rears right above a fallen dragon, his broken lance remains half embedded and the shaft rests to the left on the exergual ground-line, Engraver’s initials ‘B.P’ (Benedetto Pistrucci) and date in exergue. Spink-3921; Bull-2585; ESC-296. A few scrapes to obverse field, somewhat undisruptive to the overall eye appeal of the piece, lovely toning either side, notably with hues of rainbow sweeping the obverse devices, and reflective fields on the reverse, good Extremely Fine.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Victoria, Deī Grātiā, Britanniārum Rēgīna, Fideī Dēfēnstrīx”, with an English translation of “Victoria, by the Grace of God, Queen of the British people, Defender of the Faith”.
