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1/2 Guinea - George III 2nd portrait
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1764-1775 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Currency | Pound sterling (1158-1970) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of King George III facing right, engraved by Richard Yeo, with the king's flowing hair rendered in fine detail beneath the laurel wreath. The truncation of the bust is unadorned. The peripheral Latin legend reads GEORGIVS·III·DEI·GRATIA· and is separated from the effigy by a plain field, with a milled border encircling the entire design. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The half guinea occupied an awkward position in everyday British commerce — large enough to be inconvenient for small transactions, too small for serious mercantile use — and by the 1770s there was growing pressure to reform the gold coinage entirely. George III's second portrait, by Richard Yeo, replaced the first-year issue almost immediately after the 1763 coinage was found unsatisfactory, and Yeo's dies were themselves criticized by contemporaries for failing to capture a likeness the king approved of.
Spink 3732 covers a twelve-year run, but annual output was highly irregular, with some years seeing negligible production as silver shortages and wartime financing repeatedly distorted mint priorities.