The History of the Gold Guinea

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The Early years of the Gold Guinea (1663 – 1702)

1686 James II Gold Guinea

The gold Guinea of 1663 was the very first machine struck gold coin to be struck when the gold Guinea was produced on 6 February that year.  Relatively few gold Guinea coins were issued and Charles the II’s portrait featured on the gold Guinea was re-designed twice during the following year.  The gold Guinea weight was 8.4 grams of pure gold and diameter varied. Initially the Gold Guinea measured 25mm then reverted to 26-27mm during William III’s reign. Finally the gold Guinea reverted back down to 24mm from George III until the gold Guinea was last struck.

The gold Guinea term was not an official name. Much of the gold used to produce the early gold Guinea came from Guinea in Africa.  The African Company was granted a Charter which allowed them to place their symbol (an elephant or later an elephant and castle) on the gold Guinea and the colloquial term ‘guinea’ originated thus.  The placement of this symbol may have been responsible for the redesign of the early gold Guinea.

The first gold Guinea coinage was designed by the engraver John Roettier.  As with the larger gold coins, deliberate design differences to the silver coins were introduced.  This was done to prevent fraud and confusion between the gold Guinea and the silver coin, in this case the shilling.

The gold Guinea continued to be struck as a coin worth 21/- (21 shillings or the equivalent to £1.05 today) although by the end of the reign of William III and Mary the value of the gold Guinea had risen almost 50% to 30 shillings with the exchanges between gold and silver accompanied by much haggling, the cause of which was invariably the prevalence of clipped silver coinage and the extent of the clipping.

The Gold Guinea from 1702 – 1760

1708 Queen Anne Gold Guinea

When Queen Anne came to the throne in 1702 the portrait on the gold Guinea differed very little from that used on the shilling.  In a warrant dated 30 June 1702 Anne directed that a dress should be added below the neck to a pattern gold guinea (this is like a trial piece) that had been sent to her.  Some gold Guinea coins were struck in 1703 bearing the VIGO provenance mark underneath the monarch’s bust but all VIGO gold is very rare.  Choice examples of this gold Guinea can make £60,000+ at auction.  VIGO appears on any gold Guinea made from bullion seized in Vigo Bay by an Anglo-Dutch expedition against Spain.

When George I became king the gold Guinea became notable for the five different obverse portraits of the king.  The elephant and castle gold Guinea provenance mark made its last appearance during this reign bowing out on the 1726 coin.   The value of the gold Guinea had fluctuated over the years from 20/- (twenty shillings) to about 30/- (thirty shillings) and back to a level of 21 shillings and sixpence at the beginning of the reign.  A proclamation of 22 December 1717 reduced the value of the gold Guinea to 21/- (twenty one shillings).

The gold Guinea series of George II is a complex one.  The coin was struck for almost every year of this relatively long reign and the gold Guinea designs underwent a number of subtle changes, especially with regard to lettering size.  Provenance marks on the gold Guinea included E.I.C. (East India Company) and LIMA (gold obtained during Anson’s voyage around the world).  In 1732 the old hammered gold pieces were demonetised and some of this gold was recoined into the current gold Guinea issues.

Final years of the Gold Guinea 1760 – 1813

1786 George III Gold Guinea

The last issue of the gold Guineas was during the reign of George III who was king for 60 years from 1760 to 1820.  During this lengthy reign the gold Guinea underwent a number of changes.  No fewer than six different portraits of the monarch were used.  In 1774 almost 20 million worn gold Guinea of William III and Anne were melted down and re-coined as full gold Guinea and half gold Guineas coins for George III’s reign.

The issue of the gold Guinea from 1787 to 1799 has become known in common parlance as the ‘spade’ guinea because of the spade-shaped shield on the reverse.  During the Victorian era the coin was popular as a fob piece attached to gold watch chains.  The overall popularity of the spade gold Guinea has been arguably undeserved although it is the most frequently encountered type of gold guinea.

Gold Guinea mintage figures were provided in June 2012 by the Royal Mint to the owner of a large collection of the gold Guinea (sold at a Spink auction) and clearly show that between 1774 and 1776 over 4 million were gold Guinea coins struck in each year.  Lower figures for the much rarer dates 1761, 1763, 1764 and 1765 are approximately a tenth of this volume.  The gold Guinea coins struck from 1761 to 1773 were engraved by Richard Yeo the reverse design by Johann Tanner and from 1774 – 1786 they were engraved by Thomas Pingo.  Pingo’s son Lewis was appointed Chief Engraver of the gold Guinea in 1779 on the death of Yeo and designed the spade guinea.

Care must be taken with any gold Guinea dated 1798 as modern forgeries exist.

Towards the end of the 18th century gold began to become scarce and rose in value giving great difficulty for production of the gold Guinea.  Revolution and war in Europe had drained resources and many people were hoarding the metal.  Parliament passed a bill making banknotes legal tender to any amount and by 1799 the issue of the spade gold Guinea was at an end.  The half and third gold Guinea continued to be struck, both until 1813.

The gold Guinea was last struck in 1799 (just 315,060 were minted) although there was just one brief return to production in only one year, 1813, when the ‘military’ gold Guinea was struck.  The head for this coin was based on the design by Nathaniel Marchant.  It was struck to pay Wellington’s army on the Pyrenees as the locals would only accept gold for purchases.  Just 80,000 of the military gold Guinea were struck, the gold being imported from India.  This version of the gold Guinea shows the king’s bust on the obverse and a shield in garter on the reverse.  These coins are rare and in high grade and can sell for £3000-£4000 each at auction.  Four years later in 1817 the gold Guinea was replaced by the modern milled gold sovereign which is still in production today.

The Gold Guinea and the History of British Gold Coins

Many thanks to our guest poster and resident expert for sharing their knowledge of the gold Guinea. If you’ve found this interesting please see other posts in ‘The History of British Coins’ category including this post on the early years of the British Sovereign. If you have any questions or comment related to the gold Guinea, please leave them below.

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