Die varieties and combinations

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

I have been reading up on some die varieties and combinations and I’m wondering if there is a recognised way of recording these.

I have seen some references that record obverse varieties as capital letters A, B, C etc. with reverse dies recorded with lower case letters a, b, c etc. giving combinations a structure of A-a, A-b, B-b etc.

Others use letters for the obverse & numbers for the reverse die varieties, resulting in combinations of A-1, A- 2, B-2 etc.

Is there a right way of doing this, or does anything go? Or is one system from the UK and the other wrong from the US?

[Rob 3,152]

It doesn't matter as long as you identify what convention you use and are consistent in its use.

[TomGoodheart 403]

I don't believe there's a 'right' and 'wrong'. Classification systems just seem to gain popularity or not.

I think the key thing is that the system needs to be simple. But not too simple! For example, Spink numbers for earlier coins often include a wide variety of different styles. 24 numbers encompass the over 30 obverse designs and around 20 reverses of the Charles I Tower mint shilling issues.

Roy Osborne came up with a system for more precisely classifying these shillings but while a terrific piece of numismatic research, to know what Os 69/85 will look like requires a jolly good memory or constant access to his paper.

Whereas Michael Sharp just followed North's convention of naming types of shillings (based on bust design) from Group A-G, expanded it to include a new group H then numbered the obverse and reverse designs. So Os 69/85 is Sharp E5/2 ... E tells me the general appearance of the bust, 5 that it's the fifth bust design with the 2nd variety of reverse.

... Rather simpler to my mind as there are only a maximum of 7 obverses (paired with 2 reverses) or 5 reverses (paired with 3 obverses) within a particular group. Probably why most specialist shilling collectors use Sharp rather than Osborne.

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Edited July 20, 2015 by TomGoodheart

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

Thanks gents, both helpful and swift as always