A complete, Post Medieval to Early Modern, extremely worn copper-alloy milled imitation half-guinea depicting George III (1760-1820), milled during the late 19th Century, c. 1850-c. 1900.
Obverse: [GEORGIVSĀ·III DEI GRATIA] George III, wearing a laureate wreath, facing right. Pellet stop at end of legend.
Reverse: [...].1790; Crowned wide spade shaped shield, with date below.
The shield bears four panels containing detailed rendering of rampant lions, and passant lion, harp and fleur de lys. The third quarter is split into three, depicting a stylised two lions rampant, a stylised lion passant of Scotland and a third lion rampant at the base, with a shield in the centre. The originals were nicknamed 'spade' guineas due to the shape of the shield.
The gaming piece was pierced at the top (loop/link still in place) and both obverse and reverse surfaces are extremely worn. Other examples have been recorded on the database including LIN-CF1259.
Taken from LIN-CF1259:
The Token Corresponding Society (www.tokensociety.org.uk - accessed, 14/10/2014) 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.
The guineas range between 24-27mm diameter and the half guineas 20-22mm.
Many coins are dated in the 1700's and not in the 1800's, to reinforce that they were not real currency guineas. Their purpose was as gaming / gambling counters, to look like sovereigns and half sovereigns, 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.
A complete, Post Medieval to Early Modern, extremely worn copper-alloy milled imitation half-guinea depicting George III (1760-1820), milled during the late 19th Century, c. 1850-c. 1900.
Obverse: [GEORGIVSĀ·III DEI GRATIA] George III, wearing a laureate wreath, facing right. Pellet stop at end of legend.
Reverse: [...].1790; Crowned wide spade shaped shield, with date below.
The shield bears four panels containing detailed rendering of rampant lions, and passant lion, harp and fleur de lys. The third quarter is split into three, depicting a stylised two lions rampant, a stylised lion passant of Scotland and a third lion rampant at the base, with a shield in the centre. The originals were nicknamed 'spade' guineas due to the shape of the shield.
The gaming piece was pierced at the top (loop/link still in place) and both obverse and reverse surfaces are extremely worn. Other examples have been recorded on the database including LIN-CF1259.
Taken from LIN-CF1259:
The Token Corresponding Society (www.tokensociety.org.uk - accessed, 14/10/2014) 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.
The guineas range between 24-27mm diameter and the half guineas 20-22mm.
Many coins are dated in the 1700's and not in the 1800's, to reinforce that they were not real currency guineas. Their purpose was as gaming / gambling counters, to look like sovereigns and half sovereigns, 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.
A RDF representation of LANCUM-DD3110
2016-08-12T14:45:53+01:00
2017-11-02T16:19:21+00:00
LANCUM-DD3110
LANCUM-DD3110
GB
en-GB
The Trustees of the British Museum
The Trustees of the British Museum
1
http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A thumbnail image of LANCUM-DD3110
Copper alloy
Primary material of object
Complete
20.
Diameter
0.7
Thickness
1.66
Weight
By Attribution 3.0
The period from for the object
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A full resolution image of LANCUM-DD3110
1850
1900
Method of manufacture