An Unrecorded Minor 1787 Shilling Reverse Type – Ashley Wickens-Rumble

Due to advances in the production of punches, and consequently dies, for the sixpence and shilling coinage of 1787, the reverse of the shilling exhibits little variation beyond the semée of hearts and stops. However, despite being fully lettered, the punches lacked both the hearts and the harp strings. This resulted in the strings being manually carved into each die, producing considerable minor variation which, aside from the number of strings, has typically been overlooked. This study instead examines the angle of the strings, highlighting a previously undocumented reverse type, here termed the Vertical String Type.