George III 1812 One shilling Six pence question

pmac

I recently won a lot (Heritage Auction # 231413, Lot # 60042) that had the subject coin. The NGC label had "ESC-971 Cuirassed Bust" on it. What's the mean? I'm sure that the more talented on you could make a link for this. Thanks

brg5658

Here's the link to the auction.

Cuirass is a type of armor, more information here.

pmac

Thanks, brg5658. I'm sure our founding fathers would have enjoyed ridiculing George III in his Caesar "costume".

JCMhouston

1812 marked the turning point for Geo. III coinage really, on the 18 pence tokens there was the Cuirassed Bust which is really from the older 18th style of coinage, and the introduction of the "modern" style Bare Bust (aka Laureate Head) which more closely resembles the New Coinage which appeared in 1816. I have both types shown below.