Ugly, wasn't he? Justifies the American Revolution just to keep this guy off of US coins. Language please this is a family orientated forum
You do know that this isn't an actual portrait of the king? It was done by a man who had never even seen the king in the flesh hence the contemporary dislike of these coins.
King George III by the time 1816 rolled around was a high mileage monarch indeed and probably had looked better. He had pyrithea, diabetes, high blood pressure and may have suffered two heart attacks in the late 1790s. He was basically insane and wandered Windsor Castle half naked, un shaven with long hair and seldom bathed. His son the prince regent took over affairs of state during this time. He died in 1820.
A few quick facts for perspective: King George III suffered from suspected porphyria, a blood disorder that results in bizarre behavior and abdominal cramping. Unlike his great grandfather George I (who barely spoke English) and his grandfather George II, George III was born in England. Unlike his regal forefathers, he was very devoted to his wife (producing 15 children with her as some evidence of his amorous feelings). We Americans rightfully have a bad opinion of George III because of his intransigence on the American Colonies issue. His intolerant anti-Catholic position cannot be overlooked, also. That said, he reigned over a period of time (59 years) in which the parliment increasingly exerted its independence and power, allowing Great Britain to develop as a constitutional monarchy . The last of these, of course, was good. BTW, rent the movie The Madness of King George to get some feel for the man and his times. guy
Other than size, how do you tell between the shilling and the identical 6 pence? Has anyone determined if it is indeed a shilling?
this type of coinage was referred to as "bull head" coins, the portrait of george was apparently taken from a neo classical sculpture of him. there are also brass copies of these coins which were initially silvered in an attempt to pass them off as the real thing. however they turn up occasionally and sometimes sell for as much as the real thing, i have two copied coins the sixpence and the shilling which the silvering has completely disappeared and they are just brass coloured.
Good question-- I have both a 6 pence and a shilling from that era and compared the two. The designs are almost identical from what I can tell, except-- There are two rampant (standing on two legs) lions on the reverse. The smaller one is in a shield that is topped by the crown. On my shilling, there are several (I counted 7) "V's" or "Y's" in the field of the smaller rampant lion, and there is some space between the lion's head and the top border. On my 6 pence, there are only 2 "V's" from what I can tell, and they are both below the lion. The lion's head on the 6 pence is also much closer to the border. In fact, when I compare my two coins with the coin pictured above, it appears that the coin pictured above is actually a 6 pence. Shilling-- size of US quarter 6 pence-- size of US small cent
I read the book 'The Life and Times of George III' by John Clarke, and found it to be quite interesting. I would reccommend it to anyone interested in the subject. Here is my example of the so called 'bull head', as moneyer12 pointed out, mine is a Shilling of 1817, not high grade or anything, but I paid just $5 a couple years back for it, and I find it to be a lovely coin. I must say, I much prefer this type of head to the one used on the 1820 silver Crowns of King George III. Of course, the earlier portraits of George III are my favorite. Collector 1966: I see what you are talking about, as far as the the 'V's you describe around the inner rampant lion, I always thought they looked like stars, but looking closely, now they do look like 'V's..... you can see them around the smaller rampant lion in the center of the reverse on my Shilling example. I don't have a sixpence of the type myself, so I haven't tried to compare the two as you have.
If you compare your shilling with the coin in the original post, you should be able to see that the inner rampant lion on your coin has a couple of "V's" that separate his head from the top border, while the head of the inner rampant lion in the original post is almost touching the border. In fact, the coin in the original post looks almost exactly like my sixpence.
Yes, I can see the difference with my coin, and the original poster's coin. I guess one would have to study a number of specimens of both denominations to see if it is a recurring theme, if so, then that might be a way to tell them apart without using size or weight as someone above asked. Interesting observation Collector1966.
