![George III, 'Spade' Guinea, 1798 [ACP1-6] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ACP1-6.jpg)
Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of Great Britain 1760-1820 AD, Gold Guinea (8.39g, 24mm), 1798, Royal mint London. Obverse: Fifth laureate head of King George III facing to the right, legend surrounds, “GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA”. Reverse: Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Great Britain, France, Ireland, Hanover, and Brunswick (1714-1801 AD) in heater-shaped escutcheon and surmounted by St. Edward’s Crown, Irish charge of seven harp strings, semé of seven hearts to Luneberg escutcheon, 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. An exceptional spade guinea with a distinct lustrousness when held in hand and very sharp devices, particularly the reverse heraldry, the portrait bold and distinct, despite a light hairline to reverse the example is superb, near Mint State.
The Latin legend is the extensive Royal titulature of King George III, beginning on the obverse and finishing on the reverse, reading unabridged as “Geōrgius tertius, Deī grātiā, Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex, Fideī Dēfēnsor, Brūnsvīcēnsis et Lūnebērgēnsis Dux, Sacrī Romani imperiī Archīthesaurarius et Elector”, with an English translation of “George the Third, by the grace of God 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 Guinea was a gold coin first struck during the reign of King Charles II and replaced the gold Unite, remaining the standard gold coin of England until the introduction of the gold Sovereign of twenty shillings in 1817. During the reign of King George III, the guinea was struck to a theoretical weight of 8.40 grams of ‘crown gold’ or 22ct – in practice this was more likely slightly lower, approximately 0.9146 purity, and had a face value of twenty-one shillings. Due to its recognizability within the British Empire, the guinea was one of the monetary denominations chosen by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales, for the Australian Money Proclamation of 1800 – Australia’s first monetary system. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colonies, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the Gold Guinea was revalued to One Pound Two Shillings (22/-), one shilling higher than if spent within England.
