Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of Great Britain 1760-1820 AD, Gold Guinea (8.40g, 24mm), 1798. Obverse: Fifth laureate bust of King George III facing to the right, legend surrounds, “GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA”. Reverse: Kite-Shield of Arms of the House of Hanover as the sovereigns of Great Britain (1760-1801) surmounted by St. Edward’s Crown, date below with ‘7’ of date touching shield, legend surrounds, “·M· B· F· ET· H· REX· F·D· B· ET· L· D· S· R· I· A· T· ET· E·”. Farey-1370; Bull (EGC)-732. Calendar year output of £2,967,505 of gold, with an approximate mintage of 2,129,992 Guinea pieces. Quite boldly struck and with nice surfaces, quite minor typical minor contact marks and rusty reverse die, very attractive in hand, good Extremely Fine.
The Gold Guinea was one of the denominations chosen during the Australian Proclamation of 1800 by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales. It had a high face value of One Pound Two Shillings, one shilling above its face value in England, in order to disincentivize the removal of currency from within the Australian colonies. This coin, although a type struck and used within Great Britain, is still considered a part of Australia’s early colonial history as a proclamation piece.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Geōrgius Tertius, Deī Grātiā”, with an English translation of “George the Third, by the Grace of God”. The Reverse Latin legend continues from the obverse and reads “Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex, Fideī Dēfēnsor, Brūnsvīcēnsis et Lūnebērgēnsis Dux, Sacrī Romani imperiī Archīthesaurarius et Elector”, with an English translation of “King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Luneberg, High Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire”.