Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Young Head coinage/archive1: Difference between revisions

Young Head coinage (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

As of 9 December 2025, 13:41 (UTC), this page is active and open for discussion. An FAC coordinator will be responsible for closing the nomination.

Nominator(s): Wehwalt (talk) 18:13, 8 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about… the coins that became an iconic image of Queen Victoria in her youth. So much so that it makes two appearances so far (wife and I have watched through Episode 6) in the current Netflix series on Victoria. I’d like to extend my thanks to WMF for purchasing for me a copy of the new, and rather expensive book by Mark Jones on William Wyon. Wehwalt (talk) 18:13, 8 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I’ll review this article’s prose over the next day or two. Do note, however, that I’m not at all experienced at FAC, so a second opinion would help. British coinage is also not my field of expertise, to say the very, very least. DannyRogers800 (talk) 21:50, 8 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• I would add a short description.

Done.

• The Young Head coinage is the issues of British coins… Should this read “is the issue of British coins”? I stand to be corrected.

Simply because they were issued over half a century and beginning not in the same year, I would say “issues”.

• by which time she was almost 70 years of age “70 years old” is more concise.

True, but “of age” sounds more formal.

• because of that lingered on the coinage even after she no longer resembled it “because of that the coinage lingered on after she no longer resembled it” is more clear.

I think the existing language focuses on the bust of Victoria which is the unifying factor. After all, they still struck coins after 1887, they just had a different age of Victoria.

• It was replaced on the penny and its fractions when the copper coinage was replaced with bronze in the 1860s, but continued on some of the gold and silver coinage. I would add “it” before “but”, since the comma marks a new clause.

Do you mean after the “but”? Yes you could, but it’s unnecessary since both clauses have the same subject.

• This meant that a new coinage would be prepared, designed at a time when the Royal Mint’s chief engraver, William Wyon, focused on the side of the coin bearing the monarch’s portrait, while the second engraver worked on the other side. I would introduce the terms obverse and reverse here as many readers will not be familiar with them.
• Then, a battle with Benedetto Pistrucci over the position had been compromised by making Wyon chief engraver and Pistrucci chief medalist, at equal salaries. compromised is generally a negative word; I would use a word like lessened or assuaged (assuaged would work with conflict, not battle, in this case) when talking about a battle.
• I think the profession of medalist, or what a medal is, should be explained briefly; again, readers like myself don’t really know the difference between a coin and a medal.
• having been described by an order in council dated 26 July 1837 Best to explain what an order in council is, either by rephrasing or adding a footnote. Most will not be familiar with this term.
• This section relies on the passive tense a bit too much. As Orwell says, whenever you can use the active tense, use the active. For example, instead of Pistrucci was accused by a Wyon supporter (likely Nicholas Carlisle) of ordering Royal Mint employees to work on the coronation medal who should have been helping to prepare the new coinage., you may consider “A Wyon supporter (likely Nicholas Carlisle) accused Pistrucci of ordering Royal Mint employees…”.
• Then, there were production difficulties in the Royal Mint, with dies breaking before they struck an adequate number of coins I would wikilink “dies”.
• The visit does not seem to have solved the problems. Adding however or still would emphasize the contrast between this sentence and the previous one, which states that the French were hospitable.
• Wyon was able to use the same portrait of Victoria for all denominations by use of a reducing machine Use is used twice in the same sentence.
• all look back to Antonio Canova’s Fountain Nymph. I would mention that Fountain Nymph is a scultpure, for clarity.
• “The numismatist Lawrence W. Cobb Wikilink “numismatist”.
• According to the Royal Mint Museum, of Wyon’s portraits of Victoria, that “approved for the coinage in 1838 undoubtedly takes pride of place. Wyon was clearly inspired by his admiration of the neo-classical style of his mentor John Flaxman to create an uncluttered and well-balanced portrait. Add a quotation mark at the end, and wikilink “neo-classical”.
• André Celtel and Svein H. Gullbekk, in their own volume on the sovereign, state that … This sentence uses the same structure and wording as the previous one. I would vary it slightly.
• The numismatic author Peter Seaby deemed it “this famous coin designed by William Wyon”. I don’t think this sentence tells us too much about the coin’s fame. The “cult status” quote is enough. Perhaps moving the sentence to a footnote would suffice.
• Wikilink “Edward VIII”.
• something was needed to replace Pistrucci’s Saint George and the dragon Capitalize the d in “dragon”.
• Una and the Lion appear in Edmund Spenser’s 16th century epic The Faerie Queene. This sentence feels a bit random; why is it important? I’m sure there’s a good reason, but it’s not made clear.
• The royal arms as depicted on the coinage The previous sentence also uses “depicted”; a synonym would be better.
• The penny, halfpenny, farthing and third farthing were given a depiction of Britannia, by Wyon, like to the ones those coins bore under King William “like to the ones” could be rephrased.

I will cover the rest of the article tomorrow, hopefully. Many of my comments are nitpicks, but I think there are some prose issues, namely, overreliance on the passive voice and, at times, statements with jargon lacking explanation or context. Then again, I’m not knowledgeable in British coinage, so my concerns may not apply. On a different note, the article seems comprehensive and well-structured. DannyRogers800 (talk) 00:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Acknowledged. Regarding the jargon, this is a non-basic-level numismatic article and as usual, you can either have brisk prose by using the terminology of numismatics, and stopping to define every odd term. I have followed the suggested practice of writing the lead at a slightly more basic level to satisfy the general reader. I will work on the specific comments tomorrow. Thank you for your comments.–Wehwalt (talk) 02:00, 9 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You’re welcome. And you make a fair point. DannyRogers800 (talk) 09:39, 9 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• The first Young Head coins to be released were dated 1838, with sovereigns, half sovereigns, half crowns, shillings, sixpences, pennies, halfpennies, and Maundy money. Since you generally don’t use the serial comma throughout the article, remove the comma before “and”.
• The shilling was first available 11 August 1838 … I would rewrite to “The shilling became available on 11 August 1838”.
• and was said to bear “an exceedingly handsome profile of her Majesty, by Wyon” Mention to whom the quote is attributed. Also, I would first cover everything about the release, and then talk about the reaction.
• The shilling was first available 11 August 1838 in limited quantities, and was said to bear “an exceedingly handsome profile of her Majesty, by Wyon”, with the new coin expected to be quickly generally available. Nevertheless, it was not until January and February 1841 that the coppers entered circulation in any quantity …”. The phrase “in … quantity” is repeated twice in adjacent sentences. Furthermore, as a casual reader, I don’t quite understand what a “copper” is, or how it differs from the shilling itself. I’m not suggesting a correction or anything, but this, to me, is unclear.
• a correspondent for The Athenaeum wrote of the pennies that they were … I would rewrite this to, “a correspondent The Athenaeum wrote that the pennies”, and as for the quote that follows, I would cut out “The work of Mr. W. Wyon, the chief engraver, and” since we already know that Wyon designed them. Thus, the sentence would read: “When the coppers were made available, a correspondent for The Athenaeum wrote that the pennies [space] display the same grace and skill in execution which characterize [Wyon’s] productions.” Also, replace the comma after “productions” with a period. Lastly, the quote does not end in a period but in a dash, so the period after “struck up” should be replaced with ellipsis.
• Wikilink “the Mint” when it first appears in the article.
• Not everyone considered the portrait to be successful and The Times considered it inaccurate. Firstly, “considered” is repeated. Secondly, I would add “however” at the beginning of the sentence to contrast with the previous one.
• The Art Journal stated that the Una and the Lion coin ‘”for chastity of design and beauty of execution, far exceeds anything that has hitherto issued from Her Majesty’s Mint”. Should the apostrophe or single quotation mark be there?
• The last paragraph follows an “X said Y” pattern that this essay cautions against.

• The sovereign and half sovereign, though, were issued almost every year from 1838 to 1887, bearing the Young Head, over a third of a century after Wyon’s death in 1851. The crown was struck with the Young Head only in 1839, 1844, 1845 and 1847, in small numbers, not for the general public; according to a Wyon obituarist, the Company of Moneyers, who then farmed the Royal Mint, refused a general issue that would require extra care lest their profits be diminished. This paragraph feels quite choppy; it has many short clauses and an unusually number of commas.
• The florin was introduced in 1849, but never bore the Young Head … I would rewrite this to “The florin, introduced in 1849, never bore the Young Head”.
• Wikilink “Gothic”.
• It never came into general circulation in Britain, and was discontinued after 1856 … The comma is not needed.
• The quarter farthing, intended for Ceylon (where it had more purchasing power) was struck in 1839, 1851, 1852, 1853 and 1868, the last possibly preparation for an issue for Jamaica. “the last possibly preparation” doesn’t make sense.

• The new coins were given a bust of Victoria by Leonard Charles Wyon (known as the Bun penny) and the old pennies, halfpennies, farthings and half farthings were demonetised at the end of 1869. Add a comma before “and” as it links to independent clauses. Also, refrain from using the passive voice (“were … by”) as it is used in the previous sentence.
• … though minor changes to it had been made with the years. Should this read “through the years”?
• Progress was slow, however, as Boehm was busy with other commissions, and it was not until March 1887 that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Goschen, approved the coins, dies for which were prepared from Boehm’s models by Leonard Charles Wyon. This sentence has six commas, which makes it rather difficult to follow.

Image review

• File:Metropolitan_canova_naiad_3.JPG needs an explicit tag for the original work. Ditto File:Queen_Victoria’s_Diamond_Jubilee,_1897_MET_DP-180-011.jpg, File:GREAT_BRITAIN,_VICTORIA_1838_-MAUNDY_TWOPENCE_b_-_Flickr_-_woody1778a.jpg, File:GREAT_BRITAIN,_VICTORIA_1838_-MAUNDY_TWOPENCE_a_-_Flickr_-_woody1778a.jpg, File:1868_Quarter_Farthing_obverse.jpg, File:1868_Quarter_Farthing_reverse.jpg