Ancient, British and World Coins and Banknotes

William IV (1830-1837), Sovereign, 1836, rev. variety with aberrant raised n in garniture of shield at 7 o’clock, 7.98g/6h (M 20A; S 3829B). Sometime cleaned but good very fine, excessively rare (£20,000-25,000)

The presence of the n is impossible to explain. Enquiries have revealed there to be two items in the Royal Mint’s collection of matrices and dies for the sovereigns of William IV which have an n stamped on their upper surfaces but well away from the design area.

This is the finer of two specimens known to the cataloguer; the other coin, being the only one known to the Royal Mint (and examined by that institution in 1989), is in only fine condition and was sold to a collector by private treaty.

Any connection may be fanciful speculation but the letter ‘N’ was highly significant as a symbol of Napoléon. Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-73) belived firmly in his destiny as his uncle’s heir and it is a matter of historical record that in 1836 he attempted to ‘invade’ France and claim the throne from Louis Philippe. Bonapartist sympathisers abounded, even in London, and the possibility of a connection here seems intriguing

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