English coinage owes several precedents (firsts) to a special gold coin called guinea: During the reign of King Charles II, a need arose for a gold coin valued at one pound (20 shillings). King Charles II commissioned John Roettier to design the obverse and reverse of the coin. The obverse showed a fine right-facing bust of the king wearing a laurel wreath (amended several times during his reign), surrounded by the legend CAROLVS II DEI GRATIA (Charles II of England by the grace of God"), while the reverse showed four crowned cruciform shields bearing the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, between which were four sceptres, and in the centre were four interlinked "C"s, surrounded by the inscription MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX followed by the date ("Of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King"). The first Guineas were minted February 6, 1663 and the Guinea became legal currency by the Proclamation of March 27, 1663. It has the distinction of being the first milled gold coin of England and remained "coin of the realm" until 1816 when it was replaced by a new major unit of currency, the Pound. To avoid confusion with gilded silver coins the edge was reeded to deter clipping or filing (and to distinguish it from the silver half-crown which had edge lettering). Until 1669 the reeding was perpendicular to the edge, giving vertical grooves, while from 1670 the reeding was diagonal to the edge. Contrary to popular belief, the coin was not designated Guinea. The name came about because of two factors. First, most of the gold used to produce the coin came from the mines of Guinea (now Guyana), Africa. Secondly, a charter was given to the Royal Africa Company allowing them to place their logo as a hallmark on the coin below the king's bust. That hallmark was an elephant which later was changed to a castle. As luck would have it, some Guineas were struck without any hallmark, some were struck with the elephant only, some with castle only, and some with both. During the rest of the coin's life from the late 1663 to 1816 it underwent several changes which created many varieties of the Guinea. I'm going to introduce you to a few significient types: You must have heard of the term "spade Guinea." These Guineas were the fifth head types of George III which featured a spade-shaped shield as the reverse design. These were only struck during a period of thirteen years (1787 - 1799). Here's an example of the fifth head type of George III obverse: http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/1791guineaobv240.JPG Here's the reverse: http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/1791guinearev240.JPG The dual monarchy reign of Mary II and William III (William of Orange) presented a coin with a Roman style conjoined head obverse with William's head uppermost, with the legend GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA. In a departure from the previous reigns the reverse featured a totally new design of a large crowned shield which bore the arms of France in the first quarter, of Scotland in the second quarter, of Ireland in the third quarter, and of England in the fourth quarter, the whole ensemble having a small shield in the center bearing the rampant lion of Nassau; the legend on the obverse read MAG BR FR ET HIB REX ET REGINA followed by the date. The reverse design of William III and Mary II's reign was judged to be unsuccessful, so the design reverted to that used by Charles II and James II, but with a small shield with the lion of Nassau in the center, with the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX followed by the date. The coin had diagonal edge rreeding. Following the death of Queen Mary from smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign as William III. The guinea coin was produced in all years from 1695 to 1701, both with and without the elephant and castle, the design is believed to be the work of Johann Crocker, also known as John Croker, since James Roettier had died in 1698 and his brother Norbert had moved to France in 1695. The next important varieties are those of Queen Anne I's reign: The 1703 guinea bears the word VIGO under the Queen's bust, to commemorate the origin of the gold taken from the Spanish ships at the Battle of Vigo Bay. Next, with the the union of England and Scotland in 1707, the design of the reverse of the guinea was changed. Until the Union, the cruciform shields on the reverse showed the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland in order, separated by sceptres and with a central rose, and the legend MAG BRI FR ET HIB REG followed by the date ("Of Great Britain, France, and Ireland Queen"). With the union, the English and Scottish arms appear conjoined on one shield, with the left half being the English arms and the right half being the Scottish arms, and the order of arms appearing on the shields becomes England and Scotland, France, England and Scotland, Ireland. The elephant and castle can appear on the coins of 1708 and 1709. The centre of the reverse design shows Star of the Order of the Garter. .We now, examine George I's Guineas. During his reign guinea coins were struck in all years between 1714 and 1727, with the elephant and castle sometimes appearing in 1721, '22, and '26. His guineas are notable for using five different portraits of the king, and the 1714 coin is especially notable for declaring him to be Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The 1714 obverse shows the right-facing portrait of the king with the legend GEORGIVS D G MAG BR FR ET HIB REX F D ("George, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Hibernia King, Fidei Defensor), while the later coins bear the legend GEORGIVS D G M BR FR ET HIB REX F D. The reverse follows the same general design as before, except the order of the shields is England and Scotland, France, Ireland, and Hanover, with the legend in 1714 BRVN ET LVN DVX S R I A TH ET PR EL 1714 (Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holey Roman Empire), and in other years BRVN ET L DVX S R I A TH ET EL followed by the date ("Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire"). The gold Guineas minted during the reign of George II are a complex issue, with eight obverses and five reverses used through the 33 years of his reign. The coins were produced in all years of the reign except 1742, '44, '54, and '57. . Some coins issued between 1729 and 1739 carry the mark EIC under the king's head, to indicate the gold was provided by the East India Company, while some 1745 coins carry the mark LIMA to indicate the gold came from Admiral George Anson's (1st Baron of Anson) round-the-world voyage. In the early part of the reign the edge of the coin was rreeded diagonally, but from 1739 following the activities of a particularly bold gang of guinea filers for whom a reward was posted, the edge reeding was changed to produce the shape of a chevron or arrow-head. In 1732 the old hammered gold coinage was demonetized, and it is thought some of old coins were melted down to create more guineas. The obverse has a left-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA (GEORGIUS II DEI GRATIA between 1739 and '43), while the reverse features a single large crowned shield with the quarters containing the arms of England + Scotland, France, Hanover, and Ireland, and the legend M B F ET H REX F D B ET L D S R I A T ET E ("King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector"). Here's a two-Guinea piece obverse of George II: http://www24carat.co.uk/images/1740over1739twoguineaobv240.jpg Unlike the two-Guinea and five-guinea coins, production of the guinea continued through much of the long reign of King George III. That brings us to the last important (but, not, least important) gold Guinea, The Military Guinea. In 1813 it was necessary to strike 80,000 Guineas to pay the Duke of Wellington's (Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington) army in the Pyrenees, as the local people would accept only gold in payment. This issue has become known as the Military Guinea At this time gold was still scarce, and the guinea was trading on the open market for 27 shillings in paper money, so the coining of this issue for the army's special needs was a poor deal for the government, and this was the last issue of Guineas to be minted. The reverse of the military Guinea is a unique design, showing a crowned shield within a Garter, with HOPNI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE on the Garter, and BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR ("King of Britain, Defender of the Faith") around the edge, and "1813" between the edge inscription and the garter. Before I end this piece I want to introduce you to two more images: A 1798 one-half Guinea: http://www.worldwide-numismatics.com/page0.htm And an 1804 one-third Guinea: http://www.worldwide-numismatics.com/page0.htm Clinker
Clinker,that is a very interesting thread about the English & British Guineas,& their fractionals.The marks used to indicate where the gold came from are called provenance marks.A hallmark is used on jewellery & other crafted gold & silver objects to indicate the purity,the year that the gold or silver was checked & where it was assayed.Hallmarks are still used today in the British Isles. Aidan.
Very good, but being a collector of British coins, the Guinea was not worth 20s. It was a bullion coin worth its gold content until 1718, when it was standardised at 21s. In the reign of William and Mary it rose up to 30 shillings . The guinea was also not the first milled gold coins, milled gold has been produced since the milled gold coins of Elizabeth I..... Sorry for being so perfectionist...so here is a funner note.... It is called a Guinea because some peices were minted with an elephant and castle below the bust(s) to indicate the gold came from Guinea, then a British colony...
Oh, and the edges were originally milled diagonally, but "Guinea fillers" would clip the coins and file the edge milling back on, so they had an ornate pattern from the reign of George II onwards.
There is actually an area in London,England that is called Elephant & Castle.I wonder what its connection is to the provenance mark,apart from the name. Here's an article; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_and_Castle . Aidan.
"Elephant & Castle" is also a chain of 'British-style restaurant & pubs' in North America. The name is more than likely a tribute to the E&C area in London, which I can only guess is inspired by the elephant and castle on the Guineas? BTW its not a huge chain, 20 restaurants across Canada and the US.
The elephant & Castle is the symbol of the Royal African Company, and was used from 1663-1724. Did the royal african company have headquarters in the Elephant and Castle ????
Here's an article about the Royal African Company; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_African_Company . Aidan.
Jerome,the Royal African Company's logo was an elephant & castle,which is why it was used as a provenance mark.The same thing applies to the 'SCC' & 'WCC' provenance marks on King George I's silver coins. Aidan.
Whoa. Now my brain is hurling! Thanks for the info. Very interesting. Seems a lot of kings and queens have died from smallpox. Probably cuz it was popular back in the old days (and not in a good way.) Well, back to coins. Very nice info. :thumb: Phoenix
Thanks. again, everyone for the additional comments. I searched back over my notes and research and it says, "The Guinea was the first gold coin to be milled." If you want, I'll go to my source and paste the data right from the paragraph I gleaned it from.(sentence ending in a -preposition). Clinker
Thanks GDJMSP... The article I got that information from was only about the Guinea and contained three to four times as many facts as I selected to share including every monarch, male and/or female, from 1633 on. Clinker
Here's the Webpage I got a lot of information: There is a paragraph titled "Milled" http://www.24carat.co.uk/guineastoryframe.html
That was a great and in depth trivia article, thanks. I was not aware that the gold at that time was being mined in Guinea, most African gold before the 1800´s came from Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai. BTW, Guyana is in South America (formerly British Guiana, not a gold producer before modern times). Guinea in West Africa retains the same name today.
