Made from gold supplied to The Royal Mint by the East India Company, this Guinea carries their provenance mark E.I.C. The East India Company was a very important trade organisation during a time when there was a ban on exporting British coinage.

Gold coins, in particular large ones such as this, were at risk of having gold ‘clipped’ from them so an edge inscription helped to discourage people from clipping the coins. The edge inscription on this Five Guinea translates to ‘an ornament and safeguard’