With a reign spanning from 1760 to 1820, George III is the longest-reigning king in British history. He presided over a series of wars, notably the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic wars, the latter of which drastically affected Britain’s coinage.
The 1813 military guinea earned its name from being struck for payment to the Duke of Wellington’s victorious army in the Pyrenees; it was also the last circulating guinea to be struck at The Royal Mint. The end of the Napoleonic wars heralded the coinage reform of 1816, which saw the guinea make way for a coin called The Sovereign. With a denomination of 20 shillings, the coin was originally introduced in 1489, during the reign of Henry VII.
This premium set contains an 1813 military guinea and 1817 Sovereign, of which both feature a coinage portrait of George III on the obverse, the only British monarch whose portrait adorned the obverse of both the circulating guinea and Sovereign.
