1 Dollar - George III Type I countermark, oval

Between 1797 and 1804, the Bank of England addressed a chronic shortage of silver coin by countermarking captured Spanish colonial eight reales — the very dollars that had circulated globally as a de facto world currency. The small oval punch bearing the king's head was applied at the Bank itself, authorizing foreign silver for domestic use without the cost of a full remint. Parliament set the official value at 4s 9d, then raised it to 5s in 1804 as silver prices shifted.

The host coins for this Type I oval punch date to the late Spanish colonial period, struck at mints across the Americas. Forgeries appeared almost immediately — the simplicity of the countermark made it an obvious target.