Coin Dealer Australia - Sterling & Currency

GREAT BRITAIN. King George III. 1798. Gold. GUINEA. 8.40g. Royal Mint, London. Fifth portrait of George III to right. Reverse: Spade style Hanoverian shield. GUINEA. Unc (MS 62).

Full detail in the high points either side, lovely patina.

The British gold guinea played something of a peripheral role in the early currency of colonial Australia. Despite being fundamental to the British domination of global commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries, guineas were rarely seen in the day-to-day trade of old Sydney Town. Despite this, businesses and merchants at the ‘high end’ of town continued to use the guinea as a unit of account for many years after the coins themselves had faded from circulation, and this served to add to the aura the guinea had acquired over the years. To this day, the very name ‘guinea’ still conjures up visions of ‘old money’ and wealth.

The guinea’s scarcity in daily business, combined with its reputation, meant that the average citizen came in contact with the guinea only in conversation. The somewhat subdued role that this famous gold coin played in Australia’s colonial currency belies its importance in global economic history of the time. It is something of a paradox that by understanding the guinea’s history in the broader world context we can gain an inkling of the reason for their scarcity in colonial Australian trade.

This particular guinea has excellent detail in the high points either side, and is clearly devoid of wear. The tips of the leaves in the King's wreath are all sharp, as are the little lions in the quartiles of the shield on the reverse. An excellent example worthy of any discerning collection.