![George III, Bank of England Dollar, 1804. AU55 [ECM-208] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ECM-208-1.jpg)
Description
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, George III of the House of Hanover, King of the United Kingdom 1760-1820 AD, Silver Bank of England Emergency Dollar (26.76g, 39.5mm) of 5/- or 5/6 (after 1811), 1804, Soho Mint, Birmingham. Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of King George III facing to the right, engraver’s initials “C.H.K” (Conrad Heinrich Küchler) raised on truncation, legend surrounds, “GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX”. Reverse: Britannia seated facing to the left, holding olive branch aloft in right hand and resting unornamented spear in left arm which lays upon a shield bearing the Union Jack, engraver’s initials “K” (Conrad Heinrich Küchler) raised by shield, beehive and cornucopia (motifs of industry) surround below, castellated garter bearing the denomination “FIVE SHILLINGS DOLLAR” surrounds, date below, outer legend surrounds, “BANK OF ENGLAND”. S-3768. Certified and graded by PCGS as Almost Uncirculated 55. A bold piece with nice, deep cabinet toning, feels under graded as AU55.
The obverse Latin legend reads unabridged as “Geōrgius, Deī grātiā, Rex”, with an English translation of “George, by the grace of God, King”.
Due to the Wars in France, supply of silver in commerce and to the Royal Mint had lessened and from March 1797 the Bank of England decided to release its vast stock of Spanish Eight and Four Reales with an oval countermark as ‘emergency’ coinage. Although helpful for larger transactions, it did not alleviate the problem of smaller change. Accoding to Manville, in September 1799 the Treasury authorised a second round of countermarking, this time of Spanish 4 reales. These were not issued for general circulation and it has been suggested that they were intended as payment to foreign soldiers on the Continent. Oval countermarked pieces were issued on and off over several years but were eventually replaced with a more complex octagonal-shaped countermark due to the former’s ease of counterfeiting – from January to May of 1804 AD octagonal countermarked coins were issued, but these too were eventually counterfeited. To completely combat the forgeries, the Bank of England employed the Soho Mint to completely overstrike the remaining stock of Spanish dollars with a new design, leaving remnants to nothing of the host coin.
