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1/2 Crown - George III 1st portrait
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1816-1817 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Crown (1/8) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a crowned oval Garter shield bearing the ornate Royal arms of Great Britain, with the motto of the Order of the Garter — HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE — inscribed on the encircling Garter belt. A smaller escutcheon of Hanover is superimposed at the centre of the main shield. The outer legend BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF: surrounds the design, identifying George III as King of the Britains and Defender of the Faith. The whole composition is framed by a dentilated border. |
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| Additional information |
The halfcrown of 1816 arrived as part of the Great Recoinage — a sweeping overhaul driven by decades of monetary chaos during the Napoleonic Wars, when silver coinage had effectively vanished from circulation and unofficial tokens filled the void. Boulton and Watt's steam-powered presses at the Royal Mint's new Tower Hill facility made this recoinage technically possible at a scale previous generations couldn't have managed.
Benedetto Pistrucci cut the dies, though the portrait here predates his celebrated work on the sovereign. The series was retired almost immediately; a revised portrait replaced it by 1817's later strikings, making the production window exceptionally short.