Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of Great Britain 1760-1820 AD, Æ ‘Cartwheel’ Twopence, 1797. Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of King George III facing to the right, engraver’s initials “K” (Conrad Heinrich Küchler) raised on truncation, incuse legend surrounds on raised rim, “GEORGIUS III· D:G· REX.”. Reverse: Britannia seated facing to the left, hair collected, draped and holding olive branch aloft in right hand and resting trident in left arm, Union Jack rests by her side, mint name “SOHO” in relief on tablet positioned to the right on ground line, flowing waves below, ship in sail to lower left background, incuse date and legend surrounds on raised rim, “BRITANNIA.”. Spink-3776; Peck-1077. Quite an attractive cartwheel Twopence, despite the hairline across the bust, there is overall limited contact marks and with a nice chocolate brown patina, near Extremely Fine, reverse less so.
Although the Cartwheel Penny was the chosen money piece mentioned within the Australian Proclamation document of 1800 by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales, the fractionals and higher denominations are accepted as part of the ‘wider series’. Therefore, within Colonial Australia, the Cartwheel Twopence had a theoretical revaluation to Four Pence.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Geōrgius Tertius, Deī Grātiā, Rex”, with an English translation of “George the Third, by the Grace of God, King”.