Rare Milled Silver Coins George III 1760 - 1820

In 1816 the government made all of the older coins no longer legal tender. They then issued a whole series of new coins, which were of course legal tender. This is the first type of Crown or Five Shillings to be issued for King George III. They are struck in Sterling Silver and were issued only from 1818-1820. This coin is now proving very hard to get and it has been some time since we last had enough to offer them. Dates of our choice and this coin is available in different grades. A very important coin as it was the first of the ‘new’ coinage to be struck.

George III Crown (1818-1820) struck in Sterling Silver and available in Fine condition. Dates will be of our choice. A very important coin as it was the first of the ‘new’ coinage to be struck.

The coinage of King George III is rather strange, it is broken up into two sections, before the Currency Reform Act and after the Currency Reform Act. This Act was passed because of the shortage of coins, which the King because of his illness refused to allow to be made. So what did they do, after the Currency Reform Act of 1816 they struck Silver coins but did not bother to strike copper coins…! So the last design of King George III Halfpennies was issued in 1806 and 1807. It has the King’s bust with lauriate wreath on one side and a seated Britannia on the other side. These are the last George III Halfpences ever to be struck and they were struck in copper. In Very Good condition, which means that they have seen considerable wear

stop above head, no semée of hearts, nicely toned good EF.

Most will know about the illness of King George III, but most don’t know that because of that illness the King would not allow a law to make smaller coins to be passed. This of course caused a lot of problems with day to day commerce; there just were not enough small coins around to make change. There are only two silver coins struck before the Currency Reform Act of 1816, that are readily available to collectors: the George III Sixpence and the Shilling of 1787. There is a simple but almost unbelievable reason for this. These coins were struck at the Royal Mint from silver delivered from the Bank of England. The Bank decided that they would need some new shinny coins to give out to their clients at Christmas. So only the Bank of England had these silver coins, and they only handed them out during the Christmas period, and only to their wealthy clients. So now you have the whole history! You have King George III dressed in what looks like Roman armour, and on the reverse the arms of Hanover and France as well as England, Scotland, and Ireland. Back in 1787, you had to be somehow important to have one of these Shillings, important enough to do business directly with the Bank of England, and someone they wanted to treat. We have selected some very high-quality examples of this beautiful and very important historical coin for your collection.

toned and good VF.

These George III Sterling Silver 1787 Sixpences were only struck for circulation for just one year, 1787. What is even more interesting is that they were struck for the Bank of England to give out to their favoured clients around Christmas. You have King George III in an armoured bust on the obverse and four crowns and four shields on the reverse. Today the Royal Mint is charging £95 in Fine. The reverse in some ways is even more interesting than the obverse. As you have the arms of England, Ireland, Scotland, Hanover and France. The coins on offer are very high grade and becoming very difficult to find these days. They are available in Extremely Fine. Remember that this coin is now over 230 years old and in very high quality.