Great Britain 1809 1/3 guinea
This specimen was lot 2446 in Goldberg sale 98 (Los Angeles, June 2017), where it sold for $646. The catalog description[1] noted, "Great Britain. Third Guinea, 1809. George III. Second laureate head right. Reverse: Crown. NGC graded MS-63. WINGS." This type was struck 1804-13, presumably to pay soldiers and sailors during the Napoleonic Wars. Domestically, Great Britain operated on paper Bank of England notes; the gold standard would not be resumed until after Waterloo. The reform of 1817 terminated all guinea-denominated issues in favor of the sovereign. As the guinea was 21 shillings, this coin would have been seven shillings.
Recorded mintage: unknown but not rare.
Specification: 2.78 g, 0.917 fine gold, .082 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: S-3740; Fr-367; KM-650.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 98: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2017.
Link to:
- 1808 third guinea
- 1809 half guinea
- 1810 third guinea
- Coins and currency dated 1809
- return to coins of Great Britain