George III English Coinage

Started by Deeman, August 17, 2022, 07:58:18 PM

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Deeman

Soho Mint Droz pattern sixpences

Pattern pieces struck 1788, 90 and 91, engraved by Jean-Pierre Droz, en médaille, edge plain. Gold specimens were struck in 1788 and 91.

The obverse design is a crowned GR cypher surrounded by a garland of laurel leaves on two branches and without an inscription. The 1788 reverse has Britannia facing left clothed in drapery, seated on a globe with shield behind, right hand extended out holding an olive branch, left hand holding spear, left leg extended. The inscription is BRITANNIA divided by the figure of Britannia, date in the exergue. The 1790 reverse differs in respect of BRITANNIA is fully inscribed to the left of Britannia with the date behind Britannia. The 1791 reverse design has Britannia clothed in clinging drapery, right hand extended out, left hand holding spear and shield, left leg extended with the right across it. The inscription BRITANNIA is divided by the spear, date in the exergue.





1788 Droz pattern sixpence.





1790 Droz pattern sixpence.





1791 Droz pattern sixpence.





1788 Droz pattern gold sixpence.





1791 Droz pattern gold sixpence.

Deeman

Second small silver issue 1792

All four denominations were struck en médaille in 1792. This one-year issue is known as 'wire money' because the 4, 3 and 2 numerals are in thin script.

Fourpence 19mm diameter, weight 2g.
Threepence 17mm diameter, weight 1.5g.
Twopence 14mm diameter, weight 1g.
Penny 12mm diameter, weight 0.5g.

The obverse design is a laureate and cuirassed older bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God'. The reverse design shows the value numeral under a small crown with the date below and with an abbreviated circumscription, divided by the crown, translating to 'King of Great Britain, France and Ireland' which in full Latin reads Magnae Britanniae Franciae ET Hiberniae Rex.





1792 fourpence.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIVS·III·DEI·GRATIA, older bust.
Reverse inscription is ·MAG·BRI·FR·ET·HIB·REX.





1792 threepence.





1792 twopence.





1792 penny.

Deeman

Third small silver issue 1795 & 1800

All four denominations were struck en médaille in 1795 and 1800 with the reverse denomination numeral reverting to a conventional style like the first small silver issue.

Fourpence 19mm diameter, weight 2g.
Threepence 17mm diameter, weight 1.5g.
Twopence 14mm diameter, weight 1g.
Penny 12mm diameter, weight 0.5g.

The obverse design is a laureate and cuirassed older bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God'. The reverse design is a crowned value numeral with the date below and with an abbreviated circumscription, divided by the crown, translating to 'King of Great Britain, France and Ireland' which in full Latin reads Magnae Britanniae Franciae ET Hiberniae Rex.





1795 fourpence.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIVS·III·DEI·GRATIA, older bust.
Reverse inscription is ·MAG·BRI·FR / ET·HIB·REX·.





1795 threepence.





1800 twopence.





1800 penny.

Deeman

Bank of England 1797, oval countermarked dollars

The countermark was mainly applied to around 2.25 million Spanish-American dollars (8 réales) with a sprinkling of French écus, Italian scudi and USA dollars. The oval countermark used was a right facing bust of George III employed for the obligatory hallmarking of silver since 1786 to indicate that a duty of 6d per ounce on silver plate had been imposed. The tax was introduced in 1784 and for the first two years a left-facing bust of George III within a small octagonal was applied.



Host pre-portrait dollars were: Bolivia, Potosi Mint 8 réales (no image); Mexico City Mint 8 réales; Peru, Lima Mint, 8 réales.



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1754 Fernando VI pillar type 8 réales.



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1745 Philip V pillar type 8 réales, countermarked on reverse.



Peru, Lima Mint (letters LM identifier) 1772 Carlos III pillar type 8 réales, countermarked on reverse.



Host portrait dollars were: Bolivia, Potosi Mint 8 réales; Chile, Santiago Mint 8 réales; Guatemala Nueva Mint 8 réales; Mexico City Mint 8 réales; Peru, Lima Mint, 8 réales; Spain, Madrid Mint 8 réales (no image); Spain, Seville Mint 8 réales.



Bolivia, Potosi Mint (PTS monogram identifier) 1795 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Chile, Santiago Mint (letters o/S identifier) 1791 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Guatemala Nueva Mint (letters NG identifier) 1793 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1795 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Peru, Lima Mint (letters LME monogram identifier) 1794 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Spain, Seville Mint (letter S identifier) 1795 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Host dollar equivalents were: French écus; Italian scudi (no image); USA dollars (obverse image).



France, Bayonne Mint (letter L identifier) 1774 Louis XV écu.



France, Toulouse Mint (letter M identifier) 1792 Louis XVI 'constitutional' écu, 4th year of freedom, first year of unstable republic. Louis was guillotined 21 Jan 1793.



USA, 1795 Liberty dollar. Philadelphia Mint, first non-agency mint to open in 1792.

Deeman

Bank of England 1797, oval countermarked half-dollars

Host half-dollars were: Bolivia, Potosi Mint 4 réales; Chile, Santiago Mint 4 réales; Spain, Madrid Mint 4 réales; Spain, Seville Mint 4 réales.



Bolivia, Potosi Mint (PTS monogram identifier) 1784 Carlos III 4 réales.



Chile, Santiago Mint (letters o/S identifier) 1778 Carlos III 4 réales.



Spain, Madrid Mint (crowned M identifier) 1789 Carlos IIII 4 réales.



Spain, Seville Mint (letter S identifier) 1788 Carlos III 4 réales.

Deeman

Bank of England 1797, oval countermarked unlisted host quarter-dollars



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1790 Carlos IV 2 réales.



Bolivia, Potosi Mint (PTS monogram identifier) 1778 Carlos III 2 réales.

Deeman

Milton 1798 pattern shilling

The designer John Milton (1759-1805) was employed by the Royal Mint in 1798 and worked alongside Lewis Pingo.

The obverse design is a very large laureate bust of the king with short hair facing right. The inscription either side of the head translates to 'George III, by the Grace of God, king' with 1798 below the bust. The reverse design is a crowned plain shield divided into six sections incorporating Hanoverian Arms into the overall heraldry. The abbreviated circumscription translates to 'King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, High Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire'. The abbreviated Latin in full reads Magnae Britanniae Franciae ET Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor Brun ET Lünebergen Dux Sacri Romani Imperii Archi-Thesaurarius ET Elector.



1798 Milton pattern shilling, plain edge, not adopted.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIVS·III· / DEI·GRATIA·REX·.
Reverse inscription is ·M·B·F·ET·H·REX·F·D·B·ET·L·D·S·R·I·A·T·ET·E·.

Deeman

'Dorrien and Magens' 1798 shilling

Funded by bankers and subsequently embargoed. The design is based on the 1787 shilling. Subtle differences relate the hair's detailing and its relationship to the wreath, taller lettering and lack of stops on the obverse.

The obverse design is a laureate and cuirassed older bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God'. The reverse design is cruciform shields with garter star at the centre and crowns in the angles. The first shield has the lions of England impaled with the Scottish lion, the lis of France occupy the second, the harp of Ireland the third and the Arms of the House of Hanover the fourth. The abbreviated circumscription, running southwest to southeast with 1787 in the gap, translates to 'King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, High Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire'. The abbreviated Latin in full reads Magnae Britanniae Franciae ET Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor Brun ET Lünebergen Dux Sacri Romani Imperii Archi-Thesaurarius ET Elector.



1798 'Dorrien and Magens' shilling, diagonally milled edge.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIVS III / DEI GRATIA, older bust.
Reverse inscription is ·M·B·F·ET·H·REX·F·D·B·ET·L·D·S·R·I·A·T·ET·E·, semée of hearts in Hanover shield.

Deeman

Bank of England 1804, octagonal countermarked dollars

The countermark was mainly applied to Spanish-American dollars (8 réales) with a sprinkling of French écus, Italian scudi and USA dollars. A total of 266,000 were put into circulation. The octagonal counterstamp of the bust of George III was adapted from the Maundy penny design. The supply of available Spanish dollars was no longer as plentiful as it had been in 1797.



Host dollars were: Bolivia, Potosi Mint 8 réales; Guatemala Nueva Mint 8 réales (no image); Mexico City Mint 8 réales; Peru, Lima Mint, 8 réales; Spain, Madrid Mint 8 réales; Spain, Seville Mint 8 réales.



Bolivia, Potosi Mint (PTS monogram identifier) 1794 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1797 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Peru, Lima Mint (letters LME monogram identifier) 1802 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Spain, Madrid Mint (crowned M identifier) 1798 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Spain, Seville Mint (letter S identifier) 1803 Carlos IIII 8 réales.



Host dollar equivalents were: French écus (no image); Italian scudi (no image); USA dollars.



USA, 1799 Liberty dollar. Philadelphia Mint, first non-agency mint to open in 1792. Letter identifiers not introduced until branch mints opened from 1838.

Deeman

Bank of England 1804, octagonal countermarked half-dollars

Host half-dollars were: Bolivia, Potosi Mint 4 réales; Chile, Santiago Mint 4 réales (no image); Mexico City Mint 4 réales; Spain, Madrid Mint 4 réales; Spain, Seville Mint 4 réales.



Bolivia, Potosi Mint (PTS monogram identifier) 1777 Carlos III 4 réales.



Mexico City Mint (letters o/M identifier) 1789 Carlos IV 4 réales.



Spain, Madrid Mint (crowned M identifier) 1796 Carlos IIII 4 réales.



Spain, Seville Mint (letter S identifier) 1779 Carlos III 4 réales.

Deeman

Bank of England 1804, Küchler pattern dollar

The Bank of England dollar was the successor to the emergency countermarked coins that were struck in relation to a crisis with the silver coinage at the end of the 18th Century, where the supply of silver in commerce and for the Mint had dwindled due to the wars in France after the Revolution in 1797. From March 1797 the Bank of England released stocks of its Spanish dollars and halves each with an oval countermark and these were replaced by a larger octagonal mark replaced them from Jan to May 1804, as the oval pieces were being counterfeited. As the octagonal replacements succumbed to counterfeiting as well, the ultimate solution was to have the Soho Mint totally overstrike the remaining stocks of Spanish Dollars with the Bank of England design. This unadopted pattern by Conrad Heinrich Küchler of the Soho Mint was the forerunner to the approved currency overstrike.

The obverse design is a laureate, draped bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God.' The initials 'CHK' are on the lowest fold of the drapery. The reverse design is a plain quartered Shield of Arms surrounded by the Order of the Garter belt with motto HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (Shame on he who thinks evil), crown above flanked by the date, DOLLAR below. The first and fourth quarters of the shield have the lions of England, the Scottish lion is in the second, the harp of Ireland in the third and the Arms of the House of Hanover are represented on an inescutcheon surmounted by an Electoral cap. The circumscription, which is a continuation from the obverse, translates to 'King of the Britons, Defender of the Faith'



1804 Bank of England pattern dollar, en médaille.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIUS III·DEI GRATIA·.
Reverse inscription is BRITANNARIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR.

Deeman

Bank of England 1804 dollars

Using Boulton's Soho Manufactory, Spanish-American dollars were entirely overstamped on both sides, obliterating any traces of the original designs. These dollars were struck right through to 1811, all dated 1804, and were not recalled from circulation until late 1816. From 1811 the overstrikes were revalued at 5/6d.

The obverse design is a laureate, draped bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God, king.' The initials 'CHK' are on the truncation. The reverse design is Britannia seated left, right hand outstretched holding an olive branch, left hand holding spear and shield, 'K' to lower left of shield, cornucopia below, beehive of industry to left of Britannia, all within a Garter with upper inscription FIVE SHILLINGS, lower inscription DOLLAR, surmounted by a castellated crown. The circumscription, divided by the castellation, is BANK OF ENGLAND with 1804 below.





1804 Bank of England dollar.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX.
Reverse inscription is BANK OF / ENGLAND.





1804 Bank of England gilt dollar.





1804 Bank of England pattern copper dollar.

Deeman

Bank of England tokens, introduction

In 1810, copper and silver change became so extremely scarce and inconvenient throughout the country, that the demand for the manufacture of tokens, to enable the manufactories and others to pay their workmen their weekly wages, was becoming a necessity. Tradesmen's tokens were once despised and ignored because they never were strictly a legal tender. Tokens had firm supporters, both in Parliament and the country; who, in consequence of the failure of successive Governments to provide a constant flow of coin, believed that commerce could not be developed without such aids.

Throughout the year 1811 the rage for tokens was at its height, and such was the hold they had on the public that meetings were held in different parts of the country to promote them. It highlighted the bad state of the coinage of the time. The inertia of the Government, and the incapacity of the Bank, or its unwillingness to meet the emergency, had too long existed for an adequate coinage. The fluctuation in the price of silver from 1804 to 1811 had much to do with the chaos and made matters extremely awkward for Threadneedle Street, but an enlightened policy, coupled with an acceptance of responsibility to find the country necessary money, would have saved the situation, and private tokens might have been prevented.

In 1811 the Bank of England issued tokens for 3/- and 1/6d. They were of less relative weight than the countermarked dollar and the 1804 dollar, but there was no complaint as to their weight, and relief was given by their circulation. Their lightness was a benefit to the community with the rising price of silver. A large quantity was put into the melting pot to make private tokens of less intrinsic value and Bank's tokens were ignored when dollars could be obtained. The expansion of the factory system had created or developed an increased demand for small change with which to pay wages, and in these circumstances, all attempts to put an end to the private token were ridiculed and resulted in failure.

At the commencement of 1812 there was no falling-off in the public demand for a continuance of token issue and there was a coming awakening to the danger of permitting private parties to coin their own money. This eventually resulted in the 'Great Recoinage' of 1816.

Deeman

Bank of England 1811 Küchler pattern 5/6d token

Soho Mint pattern by Conrad Heinrich Küchler, diameter 42mm. The obverse design is a laureate and draped bust of the king facing right within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God, king'. The initials 'CHK' are on the truncation. The reverse has Britannia facing left clothed in drapery, seated, right hand extended out holding a spear, left arm resting on a shield, within a circumscription of BANK OF ENGLAND TOKEN with FIVE SHILLINGS & SIXPENCE in two lines in the exergue, 1811 below.





1811 Bank of England pattern 5/6d token, not adopted.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX.
Reverse inscription is BANK OF ENGLAND TOKEN.





1811 Bank of England pattern 5/6d copper token.

Deeman

#44
Bank of England 1811 Phillp pattern 5/6d token

Soho Mint pattern by John Phillp. The obverse design is a laureate and draped bust of the king facing left, *·* on truncation within a circumscription translating to 'George III, by the Grace of God, king'. The reverse has a four-line inscription BANK / TOKEN / 5S. 6D. / 1811 within a tied oak wreath with acorns, initials I.P under knot.





1811 Bank of England pattern 5/6d token, en médaille, not adopted.
Obverse inscription is GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX.





1811 Bank of England pattern 5/6d copper token.