Guernsey 8 Doubles

[bagerap]

I was scanning some recently acquired Guernsey 8 Doubles when I realised that the 1885H was in coin rotation, unlike the rest. SCWC has nothing listed, is this the correct alignment?

Thanks,
Bob

[andyg]

Odd, had never noticed that before,

Mine are all coin alignment - except 1864, 1889 and 1893 which are medal.

Not at all sure why this would be.

[FosseWay]

I was poised to give a conclusive summary of which dates are which alignment, as I have most of them in all denominations, but find that my Guernsey spreadsheet is an old one, lacking in that information. I think I need to get that sorted, but it's too late to start in on that tonight.

[FosseWay]

Rather belatedly, I now have what I think is a definitive list of alignments for Guernsey coppers.

It would appear that all Guernsey coppers issued between 1830 and 1952 have coin alignment (180º) apart from:

1 double: 1889H, 1893H
2 doubles: 1889H
4 doubles: 1864, 1889H, 1893H
8 doubles: 1864, 1889H, 1893H

All of Elizabeth II's coinage is medal alignment.

I can see no rhyme nor reason to this -- the other RM issues either side of 1864 were 180º as were the other Heaton issues either side of 1889/93.

[<k>]

↑↑ - parallel alignment (a.k.a. "medal alignment" in the USA)

↑↓ - contra-alignment (a.k.a. "coin alignment" in the USA).

What worries me about the terms coin and medal alignment is that they only make sense in the minority of countries that still have their coins in contra-alignment. In the US, if you put a dime in your coin album, and the design is facing the right way up, when you turn the page over, the design is upside-down. Not so with coins of the UK and most other places. And thanks to the euro, various countries who traditionally had contra-aligned coins have now seen the light: France, Belgium, Italy, etc.

In the olden days, when I was Galapagos, I started a topic about the subject: Which Countries' Coins Are Contra-Aligned?

My conclusions from this thread were:

World coinages in parallel alignment:  approx. 72%

World coinages in contra-alignment:  approx. 28%.

[natko]

Rather belatedly, I now have what I think is a definitive list of alignments for Guernsey coppers.

It would appear that all Guernsey coppers issued between 1830 and 1952 have coin alignment (180º) apart from:

1 double: 1889H, 1893H
2 doubles: 1889H
4 doubles: 1864, 1889H, 1893H
8 doubles: 1864, 1889H, 1893H

All of Elizabeth II's coinage is medal alignment.

I can see no rhyme nor reason to this -- the other RM issues either side of 1864 were 180º as were the other Heaton issues either side of 1889/93.

I noticed this but thought it applied to whole KM# types. Do coins from mentioned years appear in both alignments or just strictly medal? I would like to complete my Guernsey collection accordingly.

Alos, a bit off topic, I see 1 and 3 stem varieties were removed from SCWC catalog as a type. Also from numista, not even mentioning them in the detailed listings, while other countries are usually covered in much finer details. Can anybody edit it there?

[FosseWay]

I noticed this but thought it applied to whole KM# types. Do coins from mentioned years appear in both alignments or just strictly medal? I would like to complete my Guernsey collection accordingly.

Alos, a bit off topic, I see 1 and 3 stem varieties were removed from SCWC catalog as a type. Also from numista, not even mentioning them in the detailed listings, while other countries are usually covered in much finer details. Can anybody edit it there?

AFAIK they are consistent within a given year, so while they vary from year to year according to my information above, there aren't any years in which both alignments exist. Or more accurately, I don't have any evidence that they do.