The Infamous King George III

I have purchased a medal that depicts King George III (1738-1820) and want to share it with you. He became King of England in 1760. I think most of us understand the founding of our country, but for an excellent refresher of how the King's actions prompted the American revolution, please see this excellent analysis by Alan Axelrod from his book Profiles in Folly:

http://books.google.com/books?id=S1Ze9MdX6w4C&pg=PA137&dq=profiles+in+folly+king+george

After the American Revolution, King George III developed mental illness. As per the link, his first significant bout occurred in 1788 when he suffered bizarre hallucinations, paranoia, and depression while also speaking for hours on end in streams of nonsense, raving, soiling himself, and making sexual advances to all at court.

Because his symptoms were accompanied by extreme abdominal pain, vomiting, seizures, skin eruptions, and discolored urine, modern physicians believe he suffered from porphyria, an enzyme disorder. This may have been a genetic predisposition that was potentially triggered or exacerbated by arsenic, a major ingredient in many 18th century medicines. In March of 1789, Parliament sent congratulations to George III upon his recovery and a number of medals were issued in commemoration.

My piece is catalogued as a Middlesex 181 (Recovery from Illness Medal) and was one of the first medals manufactored at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint with dies engraved by the Swiss diemaker Jean-Pierre Droz fresh from Paris. For Conder token collectors, items minted from SoHo are highly desired due to their quality.

I like the profile because it's "attractively ugly"! Check out the protruding nose and double chin (and that's evidence of die rust, not pimples on his face ):



The reverse shows an altar on which burns a sacrificial fire entwined with a snake, olive branch and globe below - FELICITAS PUBLICA (THE COUNTRY' GOOD FORTUNE)/ SAL . REG . REST ./ 1789 (THE KING'S HEALTH RESTORED 1789).



This token is gilded in silver or "Barton's metal" that is produced by rolling a metal surface onto a copper core. In this case the copper core is rolled between two plates of silver. The edge of numismatic items made of Barton's metal is sometimes left bare (and you can then see the three layers), or it is hidden by gilding the edge, in which case the piece appears to be made of silver.

This medal is very rare with less than 24 made with Barton's metal. I am proud to have added this compelling piece to my small Conder token collection!

 

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That's a very nice medal with an interesting history. Congrats!

(I think you meant 1760.)

 

"attractively ugly" lol
nice though

 

Another kool medal , your starting to make me want one bad .
rzage

 

But, Mr Rzage, which one will you pick out of the thousands available? Nearly endless variety with the Conders!

Remember the Lays potato chip commercial!

 

That realy is a lovely medal, the profile is also one of the best I have seen of him :hail:

 

Hi Catbert,
Here is a piece I picked up a short time ago and was told its a silver proof
Middlesex D&H 180: National Series - 1789 George III Silver "Penny" Medallion


what is the difference between yours and mine?

Stefanie

 

Hmmm. Sculptor's initials below the bust are different, as are the King's title abbreviations. Any ideas why? Very interesting discussion!

 

That is an interesting note, maybe Catbert will add his thoughts

 

Interesting story, and a great looking medal as well Catbert. :thumb:

 

There are three very similar pieces D&H 179, 180, and 181. The 181 came first. It was engraved by Droz (about the only work Matthew Bouton was ever able to actually get out of the engraver) and was the first piece produced by Boulton and steam powered coinage. Next came D&H 180 where the Droz obv was replaced by one created using Droz's bust punch of King George III but the rest may not have been done by him. Finally came D&H 179 where the reverse die was changed, the new die having the serpent arranged differently so that it's body passed behind the middle leg of the tripod instead of in front of it.

They made a lot of these medals as the King's return to health was a cause for great celebration. The 179 and 180 come struck in copper or silver. According to D&H the 181 was struck in copper, silver or white metal. They do not list the Barton's metal composition. As Catbert says the Barton's metal pieces are supposed to be very rare but I am beginning to suspect that many of the pieces listed as silver may actually be Barton's Metal. My 181 is Barton's metal, Catbert's is Barton's metal, I have seen at least one other listed as Barton's metal, and I have seen at least one piece listed as silver that was actually Barton's metal.

 

Thanks Conder101


Its in NGC now and online they are calling it
1789 G.BRIT BHM-311 KING'S HEALTH RESTORED SILVER

Is this the correct wording on the slab?
If it is not I would like to correct them before they send it out to me.

Also......are they all considered to be proofs? I was told mine is a proof, which when examined it
certainly has the properties of a proof.


Stefanie

 

I can't guarantee the catalog number. I don't have that book. That reference is from British Historical Medals not Dalton & Hamer. (It does match the copper specimen shown here that is identified as BHM 311 http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/...edals/?action=view&current=MergedBHM311a.jpg& ) The rest of the inscription is OK assuming it is actually silver. For a D&H 180 it should be. Without doing a specific gravity test though you can't be sure. If you just look at the obv or rev it looks like silver. (and I have heard at least one report of a 181 Barton's metal piece that was silver plated which would hide the copper showing on the edge.)

Are they Proofs? It is hard to say. They are fully struck with square rims and reflective fields. Boulton was really trying to make these impressive to show off the capabilities of his new mint. I think most people would probably consider them to be proofs, but I can't say if they received multiple strikes. (And even if they did, that is common practice with medals in order to get the high relief to strike up.) or if the planchets were polished before striking.

 

Thanks again Conder101. I just called NGC and he said he thought it was better to call it a
1789 G.BRIT BHM-311 KING'S HEALTH RESTORED SILVER

Because it is a medal which is better than calling it a by the D&H number and it is a proof and will be noted on the slab.
I should have more info in a day or so as to the grade.

Thanks again....

Stefanie

 

I did some more checking and it seems all three D&H numbers are cataloged as BHM 311. There wer four of them in the latest DNW sale of Robbie Browns collection. (All three varieties and a Barton's metal of D&H 181) All of them were cross referenced as BHM 311.

 

Great thread! This got me curious about the composition of my medals/tokens classified as BHM 311 or Midd 179 to 181.

Midd 179 19.0 gm -Looks like silver but no obvious copper stripe on the edge.
Midd 180 18.6 gm -Copper
Midd 180 19.1 gm -Looks like silver with no indication of a copper stripe on the edge.
Midd 181 18.7 gm -Gilt something or other (Brown lists copper-gilt as one of the varieties although it was sold to me as gilt Barton's metal!)

Just to fill out the set, here's an image of Midd 179.

 

Does Brown list the Barton's metal composition?

 

Only "The material known as Barton's metal is produced by rolling metal (in this case silver) onto a copper core..."

So, Catbert, how about a shot of the edge of your Barton's metal medal?

 

Stef - what a nice acquisition. Congratulations!

I defer to the master, Conder101, regarding your specific question.

Yarm - Love the color of your 179!

I do not have an edge shot, but as I remember it (it is still in an air-tite), it is solid and appears in the same color as the rest of the medal. Speaking of color, my beginning post displayed the seller's pics (Gary Groll who bought it from Jerry Bobbe) and it is not as "green" looking in hand. In fact, Todd's picture below is much truer to reality:

 

old thread up date

I know this is an old thread but I have recently acquired one of these medals. I sent it off to ngc and it came back labeled "1789 g.brit. bhm-311 ae silvered-george III recovery from illness medal au53. I believe this coin to be the Bartoon variety. If you look at the edge you can see the copper core very clearly. I understand there were only 24 of this variety made. Are there any other marks to determine this variety? What does the "ae" mean in the designation? I don't find any of this particular variety for sale anywhere. Have any been sold at auction? What kind of value does it have? A friend bought this at a garage sale because he knew I collected coins. Looked neat so I gave him the $5 he paid for it. After much research I think I might have something. What do you think? Is it a keeper? Also. Why does ngc label all varieties as bhm-311? Thanks for any info.
Olmanjon