Queen Anne Guinea – Royal Mint London 1710

Description

Heading: Queen Anne Guinea – Royal Mint London 1710

Denomination: Gold guinea

Period: Stuart

Date: 1710

Origin: Royal Mint. London

Condition: Fine/AVF wear to high points

Obverse: Third draped bust. left. ANNA DEI GRATIA

Reverse: Cruciform post-union shields of arms. MAG BRIT FR ET HIB REG date above

Size and Weight: 23mm. 8.17g

References: Spink 3574

Features and Provenance: The first guinea was issued in 1663. the name being derived from the source of the gold. Guinea in West Africa. Originally it was worth 20 shillings (=£1) but the rise in the gold price led to its fix at 21 shillings. It was demonetised in 1816 giving way to the sovereign. but the term guinea was still used in business. betting and the sale of rams! They are highly sought after coins.

Anne came to the throne of England. Scotland and Ireland in 1702 on the death of William III. Under the Acts of Union. Scotland joined England to form Great Britain in 1707.  She was already married to the Prince of Denmark but sadly due to ill health she had many miscarriages and none of her children survived her.

The one bright spark in her life was her great friendship with Sarah Churchill (Duchess of Marlborough). she even gave her the much esteemed position as the Groom of the Stool! But this friendship was later soured and Sarah took revenge by being more than disparaging about Anne in her memoirs; Anne died at the age of 49 in 1714.

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of coin and there are grades between

Uncirculated (U). As struck with no traces of wear

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of legend etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of legend etc present. but maybe worn

Fine (F). Wear on the coin and parts of legend etc may be missing or not visible