I was recently looking through my collection of British pennies and came across this one. It looks to have a gouge, which would explain why Britannia is a little lower relief, but it may have been struck through something. What are your thoughts? I hope these pictures are good, but if you need better ones, don't hesitate to comment.
I cant see anything I would call a gouge. If you are referring to the sort of "halo" effect around Britannia, that is caused by a very worn die.
The halo effect around Britannia is called "ghosting" and results from the relief in the design of the head being too deep for the machinery of the day. It is very common in the early George V pennies, in fact a coin without ghosting would be the rarity. Over time many alterations were made to the design to reduce ghosting - initially with the "recessed ear", then with lower relief portraits, and eventually with a much smaller bust in 1928.
@PaddyB i can actually see that in the pics Half Dime posted… makes sense medal rotation so King George is looking the other direction on the Britannia side.
That's quite a cool fact! I had no idea that they lowered the relief in 1928, and while I have pennies from King George the 5th's whole time, but as I look at this one more, I can see ghosting on the obverse as well. Looking the other direction? I always thought that it was Edward whose bust faced right, but now that you've said this, I'm wondering if there was a bust of George V that also faced right. Do you know of any? It'd be fascinating to see one actually right-facing.
British monarchs rotate facing left and right. Since George V is facing left the previous ruler and following ruler face right. What I am referring to is the orientation of the coin. With medal alignment the obverse and reverse will both be right side up if you hold the coin by the edges and rotate it. With coin alignment the obverse will be right side up and the reverse upside down. The US uses coin alignment, the British use medal. In the case of your coin, look at the halo around Brittania. It will be the shape of the bust on the obverse. Since the coin has been turned over the outline of the bust on the reverse will face right.
