Guinea (coin)

The guinea (/ˈɡɪniː/; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural)^[1] was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold.^[2] The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where much of the gold used to make the coins was sourced.^[3] It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally representing a value of 20 shillings in sterling specie, equal to one pound,^[2] but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings.^[4]

"Guineas" redirects here. For other uses, see Guinea (disambiguation).

In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was demonetised and the word "guinea" became a colloquial or specialised term. Although the coin itself no longer circulated, the term guinea survived as a unit of account in some fields. Notable usages included professional fees (medical, legal, etc.), which were often invoiced in guineas, and horse racing and greyhound racing,^[2] and the sale of rams. In each case a guinea meant an amount of one pound and one shilling (21 shillings, £1.05 in decimal notation).^[a]

Origin[edit]

The first guinea was produced on 6 February 1663 (1663-02-06); a proclamation of 27 March 1663 made the coins legal currency. One troy pound of 11⁄12 (0.9133) fine gold (22 carat or 0.9167 pure by weight) would make 44+1⁄2 guineas,^[5] each thus theoretically weighing 129.438 grains (8.385 grams crown gold, 7.688 grams fine gold, or 0.247191011 ozt (troy ounces) fine gold).

The coin was originally worth twenty shillings (one pound), but an increase in the price of gold during the reign of King Charles II led to the market trading it at a premium. The price of gold continued to increase, especially in times of trouble, and by the 1680s, the coin was worth 22 silver shillings. Indeed, in his diary entries for 13 June 1667, Samuel Pepys records that the price was 24 to 25 shillings.^[6]

The diameter of the coin was 1 in (25.4 mm) throughout Charles II's reign, and the average gold purity (from an assay done in 1773 of samples of the coins produced during the preceding year) was 0.9100. "Guinea" was not an official name for the coin, but much of the gold used to produce the early coins came from Guinea (largely modern Ghana) in West Africa.^[7]

The coin was produced every year between 1663 and 1684, with an elephant appearing on some coins^[4] each year from 1663 to 1665 and 1668, and the elephant with a howdah on other coins minted from 1674 or 1675 onwards.^[4] The elephant, with or without a howdah, was the emblem of the Royal African Company (RAC), which had been granted a monopoly on English trade with Africa in slaves, gold and other goods, from 1672 until 1698; gold imported from Africa by the RAC bore the elephant emblem beneath the monarch's head on the coin.^[8]

Eighteenth century[edit]

Queen Anne[edit]

During the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714) guineas were produced in all years between 1702 and 1714 except for 1704. The 1703 guinea bears the word VIGO under the Queen's bust, to commemorate the origin of the gold taken from Spanish ships captured at the Battle of Vigo Bay.

With the Acts of Union 1707 creating a unified Kingdom of Great Britain through the union of the Parliament of Scotland with the Parliament of England, the design of the reverse of the first truly British guinea was changed. Until the Union, the cruciform shields on the reverse showed the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland in order, separated by sceptres and with a central rose, and the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REG ("Of Great Britain, France, and Ireland Queen") and the year. With the Act of Union, the English and Scottish arms appear conjoined on one shield, with the left half being the English arms and the right half being the Scottish arms, and the order of arms appearing on the shields becomes England and Scotland, France, England and Scotland, Ireland. The elephant and castle can appear on the coins of 1708 and 1709. The centre of the reverse design shows the Star of the Order of the Garter.

The coins weighed 8.3 g (0.29 oz), were 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter, and had a gold purity of 0.9134. The edge of the coin is milled diagonally.

The dies for all guineas of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by John Croker, an immigrant originally from Dresden in the Duchy of Saxony.^[9]