# Third guinea

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Third_guinea
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Third_guinea.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_guinea
> Source revision: 1332279683
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

British gold coin

This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Third guinea" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Third guinea coin of George III

The **seven [shilling](/source/Shilling_(British_coin)) piece** was introduced in [Great Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain) by a proclamation of 29 November 1797.[1] It has been called a **third guinea**, a [guinea](/source/Guinea_(British_coin)) being worth 21 [shillings](/source/Shilling) in [sterling specie](/source/Coins_of_the_pound_sterling). The [gold coin](/source/Gold_coin) was minted only in the reign of [George III](/source/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom).

## Background

When it was introduced in 1797, during the [French Revolutionary](/source/French_Revolution) wars, the financial situation at the [Bank of England](/source/Bank_of_England) was precarious: gold was in short supply and banknotes were given [legal tender](/source/Legal_tender) status in any amount. In order to pay the Bank's [dividends](/source/Dividend) it was decided to produce what at the time was known as *seven-shilling pieces*, with odd amounts of the dividend being paid in silver coins.

## Details

A total of £315,000 worth of coins was authorised in October 1797. The denomination was struck each year until 1813, with the exception of 1805, 1807, and 1812. Between 1800 and 1812 third and half guineas were the only gold coins issued.

The coin weighed 2.8 grams and was 17 millimetres in diameter with a milled edge. The design of the reverse changed in 1801 following the union of the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, when simultaneously the king relinquished [his claim to the French throne](/source/English_claims_to_the_French_throne) (some four hundred years after it had ceased to mean anything). There were two obverses used, with different portraits of the king (the new one being introduced in 1804), with the legend GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA. The design of the reverse was a crown, with the legend MAG BRI FR ET HIB REX date (to 1800) or FIDEI DEFENSOR BRITANNIARUM REX date (from 1801).

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Peter Auber (1826). [*An Analysis of the Constitution of the East-India Company, and of the Laws Passed by Parliament for the Government of Their Affairs, at Home and Abroad: To which is Prefixed, A Brief History of the Company, and of the Rise and Progress of the British Power in India*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0A5QAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA155). Kingsbury, Parbury, and Allen. pp. 155–.

## External links

- [Money portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Money)
- [Numismatics portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Numismatics)
- [United Kingdom portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:United_Kingdom)

- [British Coins forum](http://www.coinsgb.com)

v t e Sterling coinage Decimal system ⁠1/2⁠p 1p 2p 5p 10p 20p 50p £1 £2 £sd system Quarter farthing (⁠1/16⁠d.) (Ceylon) Third farthing (⁠1/12⁠d.) (Malta) Half farthing (⁠1/8⁠d.) Farthing (⁠1/4⁠d.) Halfpenny (⁠1/2⁠d.) Penny (1d.) Three halfpence (⁠1+1/2⁠d.) (Ceylon & West Indies) Twopence (2d.) Threepence (3d.) Brass threepence Fourpence (4d.) Sixpence (6d.) Shilling (1/–) Fifteen pence (1/3d.) (Australia) Florin (2/–) Half crown (2/6d.) Double florin (4/–) Crown (5/–) Quarter guinea (5/3d.) Third guinea (7/–) Half sovereign (10/–) Half guinea (10/6d.) Sovereign (£1) Guinea (£1/1/–) Double sovereign (£2) Two guineas (£2/2/–) Five pounds (£5) Five guineas (£5/5/–) Non-circulating Commemorative 6p 25p £5 £20 £50 £100 Maundy money Bullion Britannia Quarter sovereign Half sovereign Sovereign Double sovereign Quintuple sovereign Lunar The Queen's Beasts Landmarks of Britain See also Sterling (currency) Sterling banknotes List of British banknotes and coins List of British currencies Coinage of William IV Young Head coinage Jubilee coinage Old Head coinage Scottish coinage Coins of Ireland List of people on coins of the United Kingdom

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Third guinea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_guinea) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_guinea?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.