British, Irish and Scottish Coins

Victoria (1837-1901), 1871, no die number (Davies 1076; ESC 1724; S 3911). Better than extremely fine, rare £90-120

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Collection of Sixpences formed by the late Alfred Bole.

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The decade between 1870 and 1880 saw much modernisation of the machinery at Tower Hill. From 1871 modern lever presses began to replace the old Boulton screw presses; by 1883 all the old presses had been removed and broken up, leaving a redesigned press room with 14 lever presses. During this transitional period, one would assume there would have to be a way to distinguish between the coins struck on the different types of press. It may well be that the ‘no die number’ sixpences of 1871, 1877 and 1879 were struck on the new lever presses while those produced on the screw presses retained a die number (Sommerville, SCMB May 1990)