TOKEN

A copper-alloy milled token or imitation half guinea of George III dating to the period AD 1850 - 1900.

Obverse: GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA; laureate bust right.

Reverse: IN MEMPRY OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS 17[--]; Crowned shield.

The Token Corresponding Society (www.tokensociety.org.uk - accessed, 19/11/2014) offers the following information on these imitations: There is an extensive series of over 1,000 different Imitation Spade Guineas, issued not in gold but in brass or bronze. Some are gilt which can make it look like gold and this does cause some confusion. They were mostly struck in the 1800's, during the reign of Queen Victoria, but to avoid the Counterfeit Laws they, usually, have the bust of King George III on the obverse and, usually, the reverse includes the spade shield, - hence the name "spade guinea". To qualify as an Imitation Spade Guinea a coin must have one or both of these aspects.

Many such spade guineas are dated in the 1700's rather than the 1800's in order to reinforce that they were not real currency guineas. Their purpose was as gaming / gambling counters to show off the expertise of the engravers and manufacturers, many of whom were named on the piece - mainly from Birmingham, UK - and as advertising tokens for many types of business, as "give away's" and promotional items.

Numismatic data

No numismatic data has been recorded for this coin yet.