Joseph Moore Pattern Penny photographs
This page attempts to illustrate all the known varieties of unofficial pattern pennies struck by Joseph Moore (in Freeman number sequence)
There are 2 obverse designs, one with a laureate portrait of Victoria and one with the queen wearing a coronet instead of a wreath. These are obviously quite different, but there are 4 recorded “varieties” of the laureate head which differ subtly in terms of the state of rusting of the die as described above. These differences may well be hard to detect on worn specimens (see definitions below).
Laureate head Coroneted head
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There are 4 reverse designs, all easily distinguishable.
Reverse A Reverse B
Reverse C Reverse D
Note: photographs courtesy of London Coins Ltd.
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The Laureate Obverse
Peck defined 4 states of the laureate obverse, distinguishable by the state of rusting of the dies, and Freeman has adopted exactly the same definitions and has included in his book the same pictures as Peck in order to illustrate the differences. Their definitions all concern the neck and jaw of the queen and are as follows:
Obverse 1: From the die in its original unrusted state
Obverse 2: From the same die but showing a conspicuous cluster of rust spots across the neck and jaw, and another cluster, low down at the side of the neck, close to the “corkscrew curls”
Obverse 3: As obverse 2, but with both groups of rust spots partially polished away
Obverse 4: As obverse 3, but with the lower patch still further reduced by polishing, and parts of the hair similarly flattened
Only those specimens with obverse 1 are original strikings, while restrikes with obverse 2 are the earliest and obverse 4 the latest. Photographs of the 4 obverses are shown below.
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Obverse 1 |
Obverse 2 |
Obverse 3 |
Obverse 4 |
Obverse 1 is easy to recognise as it is flawless and so is obverse 2 as this large pattern of rust spots is consistent across specimens and matches exactly the photographs in Peck (Plate 39 – picture T).
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Joseph Moore Varieties
Obverse 1/Reverse A (Peck 2099; Freeman 825)
Struck in silver
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Obverse 1/Reverse A (Peck 2100; Freeman 826)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 1/Reverse A (Peck 2101; Freeman 827)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse A (Peck 2102; Freeman 828)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 2/Reverse A (Peck 2103; Freeman 829)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 2/Reverse A (Peck 2104; Freeman 830)
Struck in Antimony (according to Peck, but may well be an alloy of tin)
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Obverse 2/Reverse A (Peck -; Freeman 831)
Struck in Copper
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Unrecorded Obverse 2/Reverse A (Peck -; Freeman “831A”*) Mule
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
Die pairing unrecorded by Peck or Freeman (*F831A is my own suggestion)
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Obverse 3/Reverse A (Peck 2105; Freeman 832)
Struck in Gilt Copper
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Obverse 4/Reverse A (Peck 2106; Freeman 833)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse B (Peck 2107; Freeman 834)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 1/Reverse B (Peck 2108; Freeman 835)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 1/Reverse B (Peck 2109; Freeman 836)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse B (Peck 2110; Freeman 837)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 2/Reverse B (Peck 2111; Freeman 838)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 2/Reverse B (Peck 2114; Freeman 839)
Struck in Antimony (according to Peck but may be an alloy of tin)
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Obverse 2/Reverse B (Peck 2111; Freeman 840)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 2/Reverse B (Peck 2113; Freeman 841)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 3/Reverse B (Peck 2115; Freeman 842)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 3/Reverse B (Peck 2116; Freeman 843)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 3/Reverse B (Peck -; Freeman 843A)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse C (Peck 2117; Freeman 844)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 1/Reverse C (Peck 2118; Freeman 845)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 1/Reverse C (Peck 2119; Freeman 846)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse C (Peck 2120; Freeman 847)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 2/Reverse C (Peck 2121; Freeman 848)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 2/Reverse C (Peck 2123; Freeman 849)
Struck in Antimony (according to Peck but may be an alloy of tin)
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Obverse 2/Reverse C (Peck 2122; Freeman 850)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Unrecorded Obverse 2/Reverse C (Peck -; Freeman “850A”) Mule
Struck in Copper
Unrecorded by Peck or Freeman (designated by me as F850A)
Sold by London Coin Auction September 2015 (Lot 2583) – correctly described as an unrecorded mule die-pairing (2+C) struck in copper
Another example was sold by Noonans as part of the Ian Sawden collection in 2021 (Lot 162 described as F852 – struck in bronzed copper)
Although these 2 coins look similar, especially regarding the small obverse edge knock to the left of the Q in QUEEN and the spot to the left of the queen’s nose, they are definitely NOT the same coin as the first example was in my coin cabinet at the time of the Sawden sale !
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Obverse 3/Reverse C (Peck 2124; Freeman 851)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 3/Reverse C (Peck -; Freeman “851A”) Mule
Struck in Copper Gilt
Unrecorded by Peck or Freeman
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Obverse 3/Reverse C (Peck 2125; Freeman 852)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 4/Reverse C (Peck 2126; Freeman 853)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse D (Peck 2127; Freeman 854)
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 1/Reverse D (Peck 2128; Freeman 855)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 1/Reverse D (Peck 2129; Freeman 856)
Struck in Copper, Bronzed finish
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Obverse 1/Reverse D (Peck 2130; Freeman 857)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 2/Reverse D (Peck 2131; Freeman 858)
no photographs available
Struck in Silver
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Obverse 3/Reverse D (Peck -; Freeman 859)
Struck in Copper Gilt
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Obverse 3/Reverse D (Peck 2132; Freeman 860)
Struck in Copper
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Obverse 4/Reverse D (Peck 2133; Freeman 861)
Struck in Copper
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Reverse A/Reverse B (Peck 2134; Freeman 862) Mule
Struck in Lead
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Coroneted Obverse/Reverse C (Peck 2135; Freeman 863)
Struck in Copper
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Coroneted Obverse/Reverse C (Peck 2136; Freeman 864)
No photographs available
Struck in Tin
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pennyvarieties 