Victorian Florins - Roman Numeral Dates

[Greaves]

I have two silver Victorian florins - one dated 1875 mdccclxxb and one from 1856 mdccclbi. I understand the b is equivalent to a v. I would be grateful if anyone can tell me if these are variants, with most coins with these dates using a v and if so do they have any rarity value? The former is in fair condition, the latter is very poor. Thanks.

[Martinminerva]

They are gothic font v's, not b's, but with the ornate script, the large serifs on the font, and with flattening caused by wear they can look a bit like b's to the untrained eye.

There are no variants of these two dates apart from various die numbers - tiny little numbers - below Victorias's bust on the 1875 piece, and so no additional rarity values.  Have a trawl of eBay and you'll see exactly what I mean about the font style and the v's getting flattened to look like b's.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hope it helps...

[Martinminerva]

I now attach close ups of the b in brit and the v in 1858. You can see a subtle difference in the font with a little cross-piece on the genuine b which is lacking in the v.

Hope that helps!

 

[Greaves]

Many thanks Martinminerva for your two very interesting and informative replies and for taking the trouble to upload the pictures. I    was not expecting anything significant here given I found nothing mentioned on London Coins and other sources. However I have learned something and that itself has value. Mike