George III 1804 Half-Guinea, seventh bust, Iverson dies 1/E, MS62

George III (1760-1820),gold Half-Guinea, 1804, seventh laureate head right, legend GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA, lower laurel tip points to upright of E, rev. quartered shield of arms within crowned garter, French legend on garter HONI. SOIT. QUI. MAL. Y. PENSE., 1 of date below above gap between letters F and I, legend commences upper right, BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR (Schneider -; Iverson dies 1/E this coin; Bull EGC 849; MCE 442; S.3737). Lightly toned, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as MS62, this is the rarest variation of the 1804 Half Guinea and was the only one found in a sample of 128 coins.

NGC certification 4678209-001.

The Latin legends translate to on obverse "George the Third by the Grace of God" continuing on the reverse in abbreviated Latin which if in shown in full reads "King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith," the French language garter motto translates as "Evil to him, who evil thinks."

Refer to David Iverson article in May 2021 Coin News on the George III 1804 Half-Guinea for die varieties of which this is by far the rarest of the six variations and this coin is the one illustrated in the article.

There must have been a lot of dies used for the 1804 coinage of what was only currency Half and Third Guineas as the output for this calendar year amounted to £718,397 worth of gold which is the highest for this type of the Half-Guinea.

Provenance:

Ex David Iverson Collection.