Guinea (coin)
The guinea (
In the
Origin
The first guinea was produced on 6 February 1663
; a proclamation of 27 March 1663 made the coins legal currency. OneThe coin was originally worth twenty shillings (one pound), but an increase in the price of gold during the reign of King Charles II led to the market trading it at a premium. The price of gold continued to increase, especially in times of trouble, and by the 1680s, the coin was worth 22 silver shillings. Indeed, in his diary entries for 13 June 1667, Samuel Pepys records that the price was 24 to 25 shillings.[6]
The diameter of the coin was 1 in (25.4 mm) throughout Charles II's reign, and the average gold purity (from an assay done in 1773 of samples of the coins produced during the preceding year) was 0.9100. "Guinea" was not an official name for the coin, but much of the gold used to produce the early coins came from Guinea (largely modern Ghana) in West Africa.[7]
The coin was produced every year between 1663 and 1684, with an elephant appearing on some coins[4] each year from 1663 to 1665 and 1668, and the elephant with a howdah on other coins minted from 1674 or 1675 onwards.[4] The elephant, with or without a howdah, was the emblem of the Royal African Company (RAC), which had been granted a monopoly on English trade with Africa in slaves, gold and other goods, from 1672 until 1698; gold imported from Africa by the RAC bore the elephant emblem beneath the monarch's head on the coin.[8]
Seventeenth century
The obverse and reverse of this coin were designed by
James II
John Roettiers continued to design the dies for this denomination during the reign of King James II. In this reign, the coins weighed 8.5 g (0.27 ozt) with a diameter of 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in), and were minted in all years between 1685 and 1688, with an average gold purity of 0.9094. Coins of each year were issued both with and without the elephant-and-castle mark. The king's head faces left in this reign, and is surrounded by the inscription IACOBVS II DEI GRATIA ("James II by the grace of God"), while the reverse is the same as in Charles II's reign except for omitting the interlinked "C"s in the centre of the coin. The edge of the coins are milled diagonally.
Mary & William
With the removal of James II in the
Following the death of Queen Mary from smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign as William III. The guinea coin was produced in all years from 1695 to 1701, both with and without the elephant and castle, the design probably being the work of Johann Crocker, also known as John Croker, since James Roettiers had died in 1698 and his brother Norbert had moved to France in 1695.
The coins of William III's reign weighed 8.4 g (0.27 ozt) with an average gold purity of 0.9123. The diameter was 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in) until 1700 and 26–27 mm (1.02–1.06 in) in 1701. William's head faces right on his coins, with the legend GVLIELMVS III DEI GRATIA, while the reverse design of William and Mary's reign was judged to be unsuccessful, so the design reverted to that used by Charles II and James II, but with a small shield with the lion of Nassau in the centre, with the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX and the year. The coin had a diagonal milled edge.
Eighteenth century
Queen Anne
During the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714) guineas were produced in all years between 1702 and 1714 except for 1704. The 1703 guinea bears the word VIGO under the Queen's bust, to commemorate the origin of the gold taken from Spanish ships captured at the Battle of Vigo Bay.
With the Acts of Union 1707 creating a unified Kingdom of Great Britain through the union of the Parliament of Scotland with the Parliament of England, the design of the reverse of the first truly British guinea was changed. Until the Union, the cruciform shields on the reverse showed the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland in order, separated by sceptres and with a central rose, and the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REG ("Of Great Britain, France, and Ireland Queen") and the year. With the Act of Union, the English and Scottish arms appear conjoined on one shield, with the left half being the English arms and the right half being the Scottish arms, and the order of arms appearing on the shields becomes England and Scotland, France, England and Scotland, Ireland. The elephant and castle can appear on the coins of 1708 and 1709. The centre of the reverse design shows the Star of the Order of the Garter.
The coins weighed 8.3 g (0.29 oz), were 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter, and had a gold purity of 0.9134. The edge of the coin is milled diagonally.
The dies for all guineas of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by John Croker, an immigrant originally from Dresden in the Duchy of Saxony.[9]
George I
King George I's guinea coins were struck in all years between 1714 and 1727, with the elephant and castle sometimes appearing in 1721, 1722, and 1726. His guineas are notable for using five different portraits of the king, and the 1714 coin is notable for declaring him to be Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The coins weighed 8.3–8.4 grams, were 25–26 millimetres in diameter, and the average gold purity was 0.9135.
The 1714 obverse shows the right-facing portrait of the king with the legend GEORGIVS D G MAG BR FR ET HIB REX F D ("George, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King,
The value of the guinea had fluctuated over the years from 20 to 30 shillings and back down to 21 shillings and sixpence by the start of George's reign. In 1717, Great Britain adopted the
and a royal proclamation in December of the same year fixed the value of the guinea at 21 shillings.George II
The obverse has a left-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA (GEORGIUS II DEI GRA between 1739 and 1743), while the reverse features a single large crowned shield with the quarters containing the arms of England+Scotland, France, Hanover, and Ireland, and the legend M B F ET H REX F D B ET L D S R I A T ET E ("King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire").
Unlike the
George III
The guineas of
In 1774 almost 20 million worn guineas of King William III and Queen Anne were melted down and recoined as guineas and half-guineas.
Towards the end of the century gold began to become scarce and rise in value. The
Nineteenth century
In 1813 it was necessary to strike 80,000 guineas to pay the Duke of Wellington's army in the Pyrenees, as the local people would accept only gold in payment. This issue has become known as the Military Guinea. At this time, gold was still scarce and the guinea was trading on the open market for 27 shillings in paper money, so the coining of this issue for the army's special needs was a poor deal for the government, and this was the last issue of guineas to be minted. The reverse of the military guinea is a unique design, showing a crowned shield within a Garter, with HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE on the Garter, and BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR ("King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith") around the edge, and "1813" between the edge inscription and the garter.
Replacement by the pound
In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was replaced by the pound as the major unit of currency, and in coinage by the sovereign.
Twentieth century onwards
After the guinea coin ceased to circulate, the guinea continued in use as a unit of account worth 21 shillings (£1.05 in decimalised currency). The guinea had an aristocratic overtone, so professional fees, and prices of land, horses, art, bespoke tailoring, furniture, white goods and other "luxury" items were often quoted in guineas until a couple of years after decimalisation in 1971.[12] The guinea was used in a similar way in Australia until that country converted to decimal currency in 1966, after which it became worth A$2.10.
Bids are still made in guineas for the sale of racehorses at auction, at which the purchaser will pay the guinea-equivalent amount but the seller will receive only that number of pounds. The difference (5p in each guinea) is traditionally the auctioneer's commission (which thus, effectively, amounts to 5% on top of the sales price free from commission). Many major horse races in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia bear names ending in "Guineas", even though the nominal values of their purses today are much higher than the £1,050 or £2,100 suggested by their names.[b]
Commemorative £2 coin (2013)
In 2013 the
Gallery
-
William and Mary
-
George I (quarter guinea)
-
George II (two guineas)
-
George II
-
George II (half guinea)
-
George III
-
George III, "Spade" issue, 1798
-
George III (half guinea)
-
George III (half guinea)
-
George III (third guinea)
-
Commemorative 2013 £2 coin
See also
- Angel (coin), the coin the guinea replaced.
Notes
- ^ At 2021 prices, the purchasing power of an 1815 guinea is about £83
- ^ for example, the Caulfield Guineas, the 2000 Guineas Stakes, New Zealand 1000 Guineas
References
- ISBN 0-1928-0003-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-7862-8517-6.
- ^ Chambers, Robert, Domestic Annals of Scotland. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers, 1885. p. 259.
- ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 697.
- ^ Stride, H. G. (1955). "The Gold Coinage of Charles II" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 28: 386–393. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
- ^ Wikisource:Diary of Samuel Pepys/1667/June
- ^ Chambers, Robert, Domestic Annals of Scotland. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers, 1885. p. 259.
- ISBN 9780313349430. Archivedfrom the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
The coins were named because much of the gold used to produce them came from the Gold or 'Guinea' Coast of West Africa and was provided by the Royal African Company, which had been granted a monopoly of the Africa trade from 1672 until 1698. Coins produced from African gold bore the company's distinctive emblem below the monarch's head: an elephant or elephant and a castellated howdah, an ornate canopied seat used for riding on elephants and camels.
- ^ Wroth, Warwick William (1885–1900). "Croker, John (1670–1741)" in Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder & Co.
- OCLC 26258644.
- ^ Newton, Isaac, Treasury Papers, vol. ccviii. 43, Mint Office, 21 Sept. 1717 Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-7190-0928-6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2006-05-02. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
- ^ "Two Pound Coins". Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- ^ "The 350th Anniversary of the Guinea 2013". Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
External links
- "Guinea, Coin Type from United Kingdom". Online Coin Club. Retrieved 30 May 2022.