Bronze Queen Victoria Penny – Jack the Ripper Story Album

A Penny From The Time Of Jack The Ripper!

Though there have been more prolific serial killers, none have risen to the level of notoriety attained by England’s infamous “Jack the Ripper,” an unidentified psychopathic murderer who stalked the slums of London’s East End, slicing the throats of his unlucky victims and removing their internal organs. In addition to the five canonical victims brutally slain between August 31 and November 9, 1888, as many as six other victims have been linked to the mysterious mad man variously referred to as the Whitechapel Murderer and Leather Apron.

Classic Victorian-Era Design

The link between his victims, particularly his first five, was their profession: all were prostitutes living and working in the impoverished Whitechapel district. The typical fee for their services was four bronze pennies. Here you have one such coin that circulated during that horrifying period more than 135 years ago. The coin’s reverse shows a helmed Britannia seated facing right, holding a trident, hand resting on a shield, with a lighthouse to the left, and ship to the right. The words “ONE” and “PENNY” are to the sides, with the date below. The obverse features the laureate bust of Queen Victoria, her hair in a bun, facing left. The surrounding legend reads: “VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D,” which translates as “Victoria by the grace of God Queen of Britain and defender of the faith.”

Who Was Jack The Ripper?

The salacious reporting from London’s newspapers served to amplify the hysteria surrounding Jack the Ripper with their lurid tales of foggy alleys and dark, lamplit streets. This all occurred during the height of the Victorian era and only a year after the debut of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet by British writer Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. A whole cottage industry sprang forth from these stories and even today writers and investigators seek to uncover the truth about who The Ripper might have been. Due to the precise nature of the mutilations, some speculated that he was a physician, butcher, or surgeon. Though it was kept under wraps, one suspect had deep ties to the Royal Family. He was Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the grandchild of Queen Victoria and the eldest son of the future King Edward VII. That relationship made Prince Albert second in line to the throne, but he died in early January 1899 just a few months after the last of the five canonical Ripper murders.

Unleash Your Inner Detective!

Each Bronze Queen Victoria Penny comes in a story album that includes a Certificate of Authenticity and details about the unsolved mystery of the notorious Jack the Ripper. It’s a fascinating piece of history that someone traversing the streets of East End of London on a foggy night in 1888 may have had in his pockets. Could it have been in Jack’s pockets? Unleash your inner detective and order one of these historic coins now!