6 Pence - George III Early coinage (1787)

About the 1787 6 Pence - George III Early coinage

The 1787 6 Pence - George III Early coinage is a circulating 6 pence coin, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 3g and measures 21mm across. Reverse design: Cruciform shields around central Garter star with crowns in angles, legend around, date below.

712,380 were struck. It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Silver coinage almost stopped in the 18th century, and Tony Clayton notes that this was the only sixpence issued in the first 55 years of George III's reign. The Heritage catalogue quoted by Coinvarieties calls it the first sixpence since 1758, and says the Mint was producing nowhere near enough small change for the industrial boom, so private tokens filled the gap until the reform of 1816 to 1817.

Wikipedia's sixpence article says the 1787 issue did little to relieve the chronic shortage of silver coin in circulation. No reliable mintage is published; Coinvarieties, citing the standard catalogues, gives it as unknown but not rare.

Lewis Pingo, chief engraver of the Royal Mint from 1779, engraved the dies for both the 1787 shillings and sixpences, according to Wikipedia's article based on the Dictionary of National Biography. Museum records, such as those at Aberdeen, describe a laureate cuirassed bust of the king facing right, and a reverse of shields in a cross with crowns between them and the Garter star at the centre.

Wikipedia notes that this cross of shields, introduced on the sixpence under Charles II, continued with minor changes through George III's reign. The 1787 coin was its last outing, as the Great Recoinage brought in a single crowned shield. Coinvarieties gives a weight of 3.01 g in sterling silver.

Varieties and errors

Clayton describes two main varieties, equally common: the Hanoverian shield (in the fourth position) either semee of hearts, meaning scattered with small hearts, or plain. Coin Hunter lists the same pair. Proofs exist, including a plain-edge proof with hearts described in a Heritage catalogue.

Collecting notes

Identify the reverse first by looking for hearts in the Hanoverian shield, which may need a glass on a worn coin. Wear shows first on the hair, the laurel and the crowns. Clayton contrasts the few varieties of the sixpence with the more numerous ones of the 1787 shilling.