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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 24706984, member: 101855&quot;]The British coinage system was badly in need of an overhaul before Napoleon started terrorizing Europe. The Tower of London Mint was badly antiquated and, aside from gold coinage, the issues of coins that &quot;the common people&quot; needed was sorely lacking. </p><p><br /></p><p>Napoleon&#039;s wars made things worse. The British sent large quantities of gold to the continent to finance wars against Napoleon that didn&#039;t work out. Coinage was suspended for guinea, which had been the workhorse coin for the rich merchants and ruling classes. Only smaller gold coins, the half guinea and third guinea were issued. From what I&#039;ve understood, they were used for the Bank of England to pay interest in accounts. </p><p><br /></p><p>After Waterloo, which ended Napoleon&#039;s conquests once and for all, England finally reformed their monetary system. The weight of the silver coins was reduced to the point where the coins had a melt value that was less than their face value. Thereafter the coins stayed in circulation. </p><p><br /></p><p>The guinea, which was worth 21 shillings, was replaced by the sovereign which was worth 20 shillings. The proportionate amount of gold was not reduced, but the coin had a value that was an even number. Finally the minting operation was moved to Town Hill, where there were nice new Bolton and Watt presses which made better coins faster. </p><p><br /></p><p>I never set out to put this group of coins together at first, but some coins gradually &quot;came to me&quot; and then I finished off the type set. The crown was the last piece, which I received today. Here they are. This is just a &quot;nice collector&#039;s set&quot; which pleases me. There are no super grade coins, but there are not any &quot;junkie coins&quot; either. </p><p><br /></p><p>Sixpence. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578666[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Shilling</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578667[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Bull Head&quot; Half Crown. This view of King George III was different from the others and was not well received. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578668[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Small Head&quot; Half Crown</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578669[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Crown (five shillings) These coins can bring some very high prices at auction. This one came with an envelop which had a record of prior sales on it. It has been called EF, AU and &quot;cleaned.&quot; It&#039;s been dipped, but not cleaned. It has enough luster to call it an AU-53 or 55 by U.S. grading standards. The British call it &quot;EF.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578670[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Half Sovereign Gold Coin</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578671[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Sovereign</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578672[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>It is interesting to note that the British did not need to change the weight and composition their silver coins for the next century. The sovereign has not changed to this day, but, of course, it is now a bullion and collector coin which is worth far more than its face value.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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