![George III, 'Oval' CM 'Emergency Dollar', Lima mint [ECM-240] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ECM-240-1.jpg)
Description
George III of the House of Hanover, King of the United Kingdom 1760-1820 AD, Silver Dollar (27.13g, 40mm), First Emergency Issue 1797-1799 AD, ‘laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III’ within incuse oval countermarked on a Spanish Empire 8 Reales of King Charles IV dated 1794 LIMA IJ, Lima mint, Viceroyalty of Peru (KM-95). Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of King Charles IV facing to the right, date below, legend surrounds, “·CAROLUS· IIII· DEI· GRATIA·”, ‘laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III within incuse oval’ countermark over bust. Reverse: Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Spain, Pillars of Hercules type (1700-1868), legend surrounds with mintmark, denomination and assayer’s initials toward the end, “·HISPAN· ET IND· REX·”. S-3765A. Awash with a charming olive grey patina making it quite visually handsome in hand despite the graze to the obverse field, the host coin good Very Fine, reverse near Extremely Fine, countermark good Very Fine, a scarcer host coin mint.
As a Spanish host coin, the Latin legend is the Royal titulature of King Charles IV, beginning on the obverse and continuing on the reverse, reading unabridged as “Carolus quārtus, Deī grātiā, Hispāniae et Indiae rēx”, with an English translation of “Charles the fourth, by the Grace of God, King of Spain and the Indies”.
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. These 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.
