![George III, 'Bull Head' Half Crown, 1817 [ECM-226] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECM-226.jpg)
Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of the United Kingdom 1760-1820 AD, Silver ‘Bull Head’ Half Crown (14.08g, 32mm), 1817, Royal mint London. Obverse: First laureate bust of King George III facing to the right, date below, legend surrounds, “GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA”. Reverse: Royal Arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Hanover, and Brunswick (1816-1837) within ornate mantle, mint master’s initials “WWP” (William Wellesley Pole) and Engraver’s initial “W” (Thomas Wyon) incuse on bottom edge, garter crowned with St. Edward’s Crown and which bears the motif “HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE ·” surrounds, all within the Collar of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, legend surrounds, “BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF:”. Bull-2090; Spink-3788. Awash with a pleasing display of grey tones revealing underlying mint bloom upon rotation, a noteworthy example of a typically bold type, virtually Mint State.
The Latin legend is the royal titulature of King George III, reading unabridged as “Geōrgius tertius, Deī grātiā, Britanniārum Rēx, Fideī Dēfēnsor”, with an English translation of “George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of the British People, Defender of the Faith”. The reverse legend on the shield garter is the motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter and is stated in full in Middle French / Anglo-Norman as “honi soit qui mal y pense”, with an English meaning of “shame on anyone who thinks evil of it”.
