Victoria 1887 pattern Five-Pounds No BP Initials, PF61 CAMEO

Victoria (1837-1901), gold Pattern Five Pounds, 1887, Jubilee type crowned bust left, J.E.B. initials on truncation, VICTORIA D: G: BRITT: REG: F: D:, rev. St George and dragon right, more spread date in exergue, no initials to upper right of exergue (W.R. 286 R3; Hill F32 R5; Bull EGC 1309 R4; L&S 73; S.3864). Brilliant with some light hairlines and surface marks, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as PF61 Cameo and of the highest rarity thus.

NGC Certification 6613271-001.

The Latin legend translates as "Victoria by the grace of God, Queen of the Britains, Defender of the Faith."

Recent work by David Iverson on the companion pattern Two Pounds dated 1887 without the BP initials in his work published by Sovereign Rarities in 2021 revealed that the Five and Two Pounds coins with this reverse are pre-production patterns and form a missing link between the previous St George reverse Two Pound pieces of George III 1820 and George IV 1823 designs to then move forward to what became the currency Two Pounds for 1887 and the Golden Jubilee. These pattern pieces were struck in a small number over February and March of 1887 and were made to show the Queen, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and any members of the committee on coin who needed to see these pre-production pieces. The plate in the Royal Mint annual report for 1886 published in May 1887 therefore illustrates the no BP reverse as it was still pre-production at time of publication. Iverson estimated that perhaps 15-20 examples may have been produced of the two pounds and we assume that this could be also true for the Five Pounds, however he only traced less than ten examples of the Two Pounds in commerce today, and we are sure the same can be said for the Five Pounds if not less as they do not come to the market very often. The coin offered herewith as a PF61 Cameo is a decent example of this rare pre-production piece with the added bonus that it may well have been passed around some of the most important people involved with the coinage at that time for deliberation, including the Queen herself perhaps.