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1 Dollar - George III Type I countermark, oval
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791-1793 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Countermarked coinage (1797-1804) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | CAROLUS·IIII· DEI·GRATIA· ·1791· (Translation: Carlos the Fourth by the Grace of God) |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Milled |
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| Additional information |
During the 1790s, a chronic shortage of silver coinage in Britain led the Bank of England to authorize countermarking Spanish colonial eight reales — pieces of eight already circulating informally — rather than strike new coin. The oval countermark bearing the king's portrait was applied at the Bank itself, converting foreign silver into notional British currency at a face value of 4s 9d. The scheme proved short-lived: forgers quickly produced convincing imitations, prompting a wit of the period to quip that the Bank's mark made "the head of a fool to pass for the head of a king."
The Type I oval punch was abandoned by 1797 in favor of an octagonal mark, rendering this earlier variety the scarcer of the two countermark types.