FINE  GOLD COIN

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SIZE 21  MM

WEIGHT OF COIN 4.19 GRAMS

CONDITION VF-30

SCARCE

This coin was nicknamed “guinea” because the gold used for minting it was brought from Guinea in Africa. The area was rich in gold and provided this precious metal in large quantities.

The first guinea, minted by Charles 2^nd, had on one side the royal portrait, looking right, laured, and the typical legend, and on the other side the four coat of arms, of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, arranged in the form of a cruciform, with scepters. This pattern was used for all the gold coins minted by this king, until 1684. The successor of Charles, Jacob 2^nd, used the same patterns for the coins, except that his bust is looking left and not right. It happens to know the name of the designer of the coin, the artist John Roettier.

Because gold was a rare metal, soon the guinea was worth more than its value. Officially, it was worth 20 silver shillings, but with the gold in it you can swap it for more silver. So, around 1670 the weight of the coin was lowered to 8.4-8.3 g. Despite this fact, ten years later, the coin was bought from the market with 22 silver shillings