What is this part II...who is Georgius IIII?

mhammerman

I can't find this in the Red book and I'm clueless about this coin from my father in law. Anyone know what this is?

DoubleEagle59

King George the 4th of England ruled from 1820 to 1830.

mhammerman

Thanks, double eagle...was it used in the US as early currency? Is it silver?

ajaan

British halfcrown from 1823. Yes, it is silver, .925 fine .4204 oz ASW. Worth about $20 in that condition.

I doubt it was ever used as currency in the US.

DaveG

Dear Clueless,

A Guide Book of United States Coins (known informally by many numismatists as the Red Book), as its name indicates, is for American coins and is therefore unlikely to include a British half crown issued by king George IV, which, (if your coin is about the size of a half dollar) is what I think it is.

sumnom

Try asking over on the world coin board. There are plenty of people there who can tell you all there is to know about thise piece.

robec

Here's an earlier one that belongs to member Doogy. This is an 1816 Shilling that was circulated in England. More than likely, saw circulation here as well. You could probably get better answers if you post this in The World and Ancient Coin Forum.

mhammerman

Ah, but Dave...the guide book of US coins aka the Red Book DOES list a Georgivs III rex from 1788 (p58) as a Vermont circulation piece. Unfortunately, that is the last listing for fair Georgivs. Thanks, Ajaan

DaveG

True, but the part where it says that the Vermont coin shouldn't be confused with an English halfpenny should have been at least a slight hint.



Also, the coin says Britannia on it.



Please go stand in the corner and repeat to yourself many times - "I will go visit the Dark Side. It won't hurt me. They might have interesting coins there. They're very nice people over there."

Doogy

<< <i>True, but the part where it says that the Vermont coin shouldn't be confused with an English halfpenny should have been at least a slight hint.



Also, the coin says Britannia on it.



Please go stand in the corner and repeat to yourself many times - "I will go visit the Dark Side. It won't hurt me. They might have interesting coins there. They're very nice people over there."


>>



c'mon over, the darkside is fun!

FYI, King George IV was the son of the must despised (in the US anyway), King George III (shown in Robec's wonderful picture of my Shilling). Later, King William IV became took the throne after his brother.

I have heard that in some places in the New England states during early 19th century, that these coins still circulated and were accepted as legal tender. okay, that should be enough for you to come over across the hall to the darkside forum!

mhammerman

"...the Vermont coin shouldn't be confused with an English halfpenny should have been at least a slight hint."

Yep, forgot to read the instructions...AGAIN!!!

1794half1839

We US collectors must remember, until the Coinage Act of 1857, many foreign coins were legal tender in the United States. So it would not be inappropriate for us to collect European and Latin American silver and gold coins along side our early US material, as they circulated side by side.

numisma

<< <i>We US collectors must remember, until the Coinage Act of 1857, many foreign coins were legal tender in the United States. So it would not be inappropriate for us to collect European and Latin American silver and gold coins along side our early US material, as they circulated side by side. >>



True. Furthermore, foreign coins circulated throughout the U.S. for decades after the the Act of 1857, despite the fact that they were not legal tender. I remember appraising a hoard of coins several years ago that contained many foreign coins. The interesting part is that the small hoard was pulled from the till of a rural general store in Michigan between 1910 to 1930 (roughly), and the coins remained in the family until about five years ago. The owner of the coins told me that his grandfather kept all of the interesting pieces, which were mostly foreign coins. It was interesting to see the wide variety of countries and types of coins in the mix. I wonder how he made change, but can only imagine that it would have involved a brief negotiation between the store owner and the patron. Remember that in the early 1900s there were many recent immigrants in Michigan and they would have brought their native money with them. The small banks at that time would probably not have been able to exchange the foreign small change, so it was simply spent. Regarding the coin in this thread, it is not possible to know if that piece actually circulated in the U.S., unless you could tie it to a story like the one I just related.

clevegreg

Also there are these really neat things called search engines. You go to one, like Google for example, and you type in Georgius IIII and it spits out a bunch of information on the topic. It is really an exciting feature of the Internet.