Great Britain 1813 1/2 guinea
The first specimen was lot 21094 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Philadelphia, August 2018), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Guinea, 1813. George III (1760-1820). NGC MS-64. Sharply detailed with a luxurious satiny appearance throughout much of the fields." The second specimen was lot 30759 in Heritage sale 3081 (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $2,880. The catalog description[2] noted, "Great Britain: George III gold 1/2 Guinea 1813 MS65 NGC. It is impossible to envision a finer example of this final-year Guinea. As Prooflike as can be, its fields dual die-polished mirrors with eye-grabbing apricot tone, George's 'military' portrait coated in a subtle matte frost contrasting beautifully from the dazzling reflectivity exhibited by the remaining planchet surface. The most appealing of this type the cataloger has ever seen. From the Caranett Collection." 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.
Specification: 4.17 g, 0.917 fine gold, .123 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: S-3737; Fr-364; KM-651.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- 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.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio and Chris Chatigny, The August 2018 Philadelphia ANA Auction: World Coins and Selections from the El Dorado Collection of Colombian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.
- [2]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3081, featuring the Caranett Collection, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
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