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Message:: [QUOTE="Catbert, post: 1036579, member: 12718"]This is a coin minted by Matthew Boulton's SoHo mint on contract from the King and his Treasury (to address a shortage of lower denomination coinage).  This piece is known as a "cartwheel" due to the raised rims and its size.  The rims were intended to reduce wear on Britannia and the King's profile.  Unfortunately, while this was the first instance of using raised rims on coins (versus medals), the feature allowed dirt to collect (as well as within the incuse lettering). The design of this penny was created by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler, the SoHo chief medallist.  His realistic likeness of George III is thought to be the King's preference who, "unlike his son, preferred accuracy to flattery." D.G. was used instead of "Dei Gratia" meaning "by the grace of God."  So, George III, by the grace of God, King (Rex). Britannia is seated on a rock as a "goddess of the land" waving an olive branch (proffering peace) and holding a trident (representing dominion over the seas).  She is facing a warship.  The oval shield displays the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George. The above was paraphrased from George Selgin's "Good Money" - "Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage, 1775-1821", pages 164-165, along with some of my own elementary translations.[/QUOTE]