Great Britain 1811 1/2 guinea
This specimen was lot 3301 in Goldberg sale 75 (Los Angeles, September 2013), where it sold for $2,760. The catalog description[1] noted, "Great Britain. Half Guinea, 1811. George III. Obverse 'Military' portrait of King right. Reverse, crowned shield in royal garter. Uncirculated with attractive red peripheral tone. Glistens with original cartwheel luster. Apart from the 1805 Half Guinea, which is hardly ever seen, this is the rarest date in the series. Dr Terner did not have this date in his collection. Very desirable. NGC graded MS-63." 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 ten shillings, six pence.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a scarce date.
Specification: 4.17 g, 0.917 fine gold, .123 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: S.3737; Fr-364a; KM 651.
- 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.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- 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, Jason Villareal and Steven Harvey, Goldberg Sale 75: the pre-Long Beach Sale, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, 2013.
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