Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of Great Britain 1760-1820 AD, Gold ‘Spade’ Guinea (8.33g, 24mm), 1788. Obverse: Fifth laureate Head of King George III facing to right, legend surrounds, “GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA·”. Reverse: Crowned, flat-topped Kite Shield of Arms of the House of Hanover as the Sovereigns of Great Britain (1760-1801), date below, legend surrounds, “M· B· F· ET· H· REX· F·D· B· ET· L· D· S· R· I· A· T· ET· E”. Farey-1270; Spink-3729. Calendar Year output for 1788 was £3,664,175. A popular year for proclamation coins due to the arrival of the first fleet on the 20th Jan. 1788, despite a few minor marks, an evenly worn and visually appealing guinea, Very Fine, reverse a bit better.
The obverse Latin legend reads “Geōrgius Tertius, Deī Grātiā”, translated in English as “George the Third, by the Grace of God”. The obverse Latin legend continues onto the reverse and reads “Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex, Fideī Dēfēnsor, Brūnsvīcēnsis et Lūnebērgēnsis Dux, Sacrī Romani imperiī Archīthesaurarius et Elector”, translated in English as “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”.
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.
