George III (1760-1820), gold Half-Guinea, 1804, seventh laureate head

The obverse of this coin features the seventh laureate head of George III facing right, with the legend "GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA" (George the Third by the grace of God). The lower laurel tip points to the centre of E. On the reverse, there is a quartered shield of arms within a crowned garter. The French legend on the garter reads "HONI. SOIT. QUI. MAL. Y. PENSE." (Evil to him, who evil thinks). The surrounding legend is in abbreviated Latin, which translates to "BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR" (King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith).

This coin has been graded and slabbed by NGC as MS62. It is toned with some surface marks. Notably, NGC has mislabeled this coin as a 1/3 Guinea. The coin uses Iverson dies 4/C.

This coin represents the second rarest of six die variations for the 1804 Half-Guinea, as detailed in David Iverson's article in the May 2021 Coin News. The 1804 coinage of Half and Third Guineas was substantial, with gold output for this calendar year totalling £718,397, the highest for this type of Half-Guinea. This suggests a large number of dies were used in production.

NGC Certification 5781420-002