OK.. so I have been thinking of what my first gold coin may be, I have looked and looked.. I couldn't make up my mind.. Then It hit me.. In Lawrence Of Arabia ( My Fav. Film ) when he takes the city of Acaba he promises to pay all tribes with him in Golden Ginny's.... What IS a Golden Ginny? I have looked and found none.. Is that Slang for.. what? I think if is in my $$ range it might be a good starter gold piece but what is it.. I look on Ebay and get nothing but Dolls in Plaid Clothing.. Did the Arabs trade in dolls? Thats odd..... LOL God this is going to be such a stupid question... sorry.
Thanks.. Like I said.. I only know the term from hearing it in the film.. Not how it was spelled and never really looked much at British Coins.. Thanks for the link.. I see they date back much father then I thought.. I was thinking 1800's for the coin.. but I may look for a Older one.. If in the right range...
Yep, the guinea basically became history in 1816. But 100 years later the term was still used - primarily by snobs maybe but it was not all that uncommon. And maybe even popular in Arabic countries; according to that Wikipedia article the Arabic word for the Egyptian Pound (Gineih) is derived from the Guinea too. So no, you cannot get a guinea made at the time of Lawrence of Arabia, but there are plenty to choose from ... Christian
I do not kidding about England gold coins!! please make reference to the red book Amerikan minted gold coins until 1970 and British monetized in 1975 and the Gold Guinee was minted no after then. I have the rare Guinee type!!
Thanks Guys.. Very helpful.. Hope I can find one in my price range.. I am hoping for under 300...????
Here's a third guinea for $200: http://www.vcoins.com/world/clarksmith/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=502 I'll let you know if I come accross any others.
According to Spink 2004, page 389, George III coinage section "..The old Guinea was replaced by a Sovereign of twenty shillings in 1817, the standard of 22 carat (.916) fineness still being retained."
What Redbook are you reading?? The US stopped coining gold coins in 1933 and didn't start again until 1984. (There was an issue of 1/2 pound and pound "slugs" used to pay Saudia Arabia for oil in 1944 and 45.) And the British Guinea was last coined in 1813. You may be confusing it with the gold Sovereign which has an official value of 20 shillings. (The Guinea was 21 shillings.)
I guess it sounds silly.. but I am sure some of you understand.. I want the coin that Would have been used for Payment of the Arab tribes who Fought with T.E. Lawrence.. So would that be a "slug" ?? I am so confused now as to what coin to look for .. Oh.. And thanks to all.. very informative.. not sure what coin but love the history lesson.. I just have the urge to get that first Gold coin.. I have time.. I plan on waiting till she goes down a bit.. More time I wait.. the More $$ to spend.. The better the coin... Science!
My guess would be although they said guineas in the movie the coin they meant would have been the Sovereign because they were still being made and circulated and their value was only 12 pence less than the theoretical Guinea. (So the difference in size between the coins would have been very slight. Showing them sovereigns and calling them "golden guineas" probaby would have just been accepted as "gold coins like these".)
