2016-07-07 Thu

On 22nd June 1816, the gold guinea was replaced by the gold sovereign after the introduction of the great re-coinage act. To mark the 200th anniversary of this historic event, special coins named St. Helena silver and gold collector coins were issued by The East India Company.

Before getting replaced, the gold guinea was used from the Restoration of the Monarchy to the Napoleonic Wars. The 1-guinea coin formed the basis for the 1785 American gold $5 half eagle.

When the civil war was on in 1663, new coinage was introduced by King Charles II to counter the economic instability and expand international trade. He used the machine-struck method to mint the £1 coins.

Gold provided by the Royal African Company was termed as guinea which was commonly used by the people of Britain, and was officially used as the name for the gold £1 coin. Large quantities were minted to fulfil the demand for gold and its value kept on changing as per the rate of gold for the first 50 years. It was fixed to 21 shillings in 1717 after the gold standard was introduced in Britain. The coins became acceptable all over the world and were used to exchange spices, tea and silk in 18th and 19th century.

The 2016 commemorative coins depict the common portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. The ‘EIC’ inscription honours the historic coins struck by the East India Company. 5-guinea and third-guinea coins have been minted under the permission from the Royal Household.

The designs are exactly similar to the earlier coins of the same type; but have frosted and polished sections. The denomination follows the pounds-and-pence system.

The quarter-guinea coin features the rose shield design, the third-guinea piece features a royal crown, the half-guinea features the garter design, the guinea features the spade design and the 5-guinea features the shield design. All the designs are similar to the last pieces struck under King George III.