Sovereign 1866, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

Young head of Queen Victoria facing left wearing ribbon (double fillet) in her hair; the hair is collected up into a knot behind; around, the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA (Victoria, by the Grace of God); the designer's initials W.W. (for William Wyon) are incuse on the neck truncation.

In the field below the neck truncation, the date 1866.

The Ensigns Armorial of the United Kingdom within a plain shield quartered with the arms of England (1 & 4), Scotland (2) and Ireland (3), surmounted by a crown. A branch of laurel is shown on each side of the shield, tied at the bottom by a ribbon. At the bottom, the Thistle, Rose and Shamrock (symbols of Scotland, England and Ireland respectively) are placed with a small flower stop on each side.

Around, the rest of the monarch's legend (continuing from the obverse): BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF: (Queen of the Britains, Defender of the Faith).

A die number is located between the ribbon beneath the shield and the rose.

Known die numbers (as per Marsh 2017): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 (12 and 79 not confirmed).

Type IB by Marsh.

Marsh also mentions "different design gold patterns for 1866 and 1870, both very rare" (and not separately listed as varieties).

References to additional information:

[Book] Remick, Jerome. The Guide Book and Catalogue to British Commonwealth Coins, Regency Coins and Stamps Ltd, Winnipeg, Canada, 1971, p258
[Book] Marsh, Michael A. The Gold Sovereign. Cambridge Coins, Cambridge, UK, 1980. (2017 ed. pp 27-40)