![George III, ‘Oval’ CM Emergency Half Dollar, Madrid [ECM-242] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ECM-242-1.jpg)
Description
Kingdom of Great Britain, George III of the House of Hanover, King of the Great Britain 1760-1820 AD, Silver Half Dollar (13.35g, 32mm), First Emergency Issue 1797-1799 AD, ‘laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III’ within incuse oval countermarked on a Spanish Empire Silver Four Reales dated 1792 MF, Royal Mint of Madrid, Spain (KM-431.1). Obverse of host: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of King Charles IV facing to the right, date below, legend surrounds, “·CAROLUS· IIII· DEI· G·”, ‘laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III within incuse oval’ countermark over bust. Reverse: Royal Escutcheon of the Armorial of the Kingdom of Spain surmounted by royal crown, denomination, mint and assayer’s initials to field either side, legend surrounds, “HISPANIARUM· REX·”. S-3767. A most charming oval countermark half dollar awash with pleasing cabinet grey with deeper shades over the periphery, the countermark particularly strong, a very collectible offering, host Very Fine, countermark Extremely Fine.
As a Spanish host coin, the Latin legend is the Royal titulature of King Charles IV of Spain, beginning on the obverse and continuing on the reverse, reading unabridged as “Carolus quārtus, Deī grātiā, Hispāniarum rēx”, with an English translation of “Charles the fourth, by the Grace of God, King of Spanish people”.
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.
