Lot 2454
Great Britain. Three Shillings silver Bank Token, 1811. George III. S-3769. Draped bust in armor. For years at the end of this reign, and in fact during what is known to history as The Regency period, when King George was suffering his dementia and his son stepped in to fill many of his royal duties, England was at war with Napoleon. Specie was in very short supply. Gold was virtually nonexistent in the homeland, being hoarded. A special "Military Guinea" and its half were authorized strictly to pay troops abroad, fighting forces. At home, silver had vanished because of fears of a bad outcome to the war. No coins in silver were struck for the Crown. Earlier, the Bank of England had gathered Spanish silver 8 Reales coins and had overstamped them as emergency issues, known today as the Bank Dollars. By 1811 things were a little less uncertain, and the Bank of England once again issued coins in the king's name. Several denominations appeared, all of them different from traditional denominations so as not to cause confusion. The largest were these "3 Shillings" coins. Two types were made, two head styles, and today they are elusive in high grade but otherwise common. The Cheshire collector notes: "I collected several Bank Tokens of the same date because, even until recently, they seemed relatively cheap. And it was possible to put together a group of these pieces with different colour tones at no great expense!" Here is the first, showing light silvery gray toning. A distinctive feature of these is the shallow engraving. NGC graded MS-61.
Estimated Value $200 - 250.
The Cheshire Collection.
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| Realized $242 |
