Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of the United Kingdom 1760-1820 AD, Gold Third Guinea (2.75g, 17mm), 1804, Royal mint London. Obverse: Second laureate head of King George III facing to the right, legend surrounds, “GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA”. Reverse: St. Edward’s Crown central, date below, star above, legend surrounds, “BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR”. Bull EGC-874; S-3740. Minor marks else a charming minor guinea, typically soft over portrait, Fine, reverse a little better.
The Latin legend is the Royal titulature of King George III, beginning on the obverse and continuing on the reverse, 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 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. Although not specifically mentioned on the proclamation, the multiples and fractions of each denomination are considered part of the ‘wider proclamation series’ – therefore, a Gold Third Guinea had a theoretical revaluation to Seven Shillings Four Pence.