½ Guinea - George III Pattern (1763)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1763 |
| Denomination | ½ Guinea |
| Face value | 52.5p |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Composition | Gold |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Obv. artist | Richard Yeo |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Bust of George III right
GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA
Crowned shield with quarters showing the arms of England & Scotland, France, Hanover and Ireland
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1763 Half Guinea - George III Pattern
The 1763 Half Guinea - George III Pattern is a collector ½ guinea coin, struck in gold. Reverse design: Crowned shield with quarters showing the arms of England & Scotland, France, Hanover and Ireland.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1763 Half Guinea - George III Pattern worth?
No verified sale of the 1763 Half Guinea - George III Pattern has been logged on MyCoinage yet.
What is the 1763 pattern half guinea?
A gold proof striking of a proposed half guinea design dated 1763, engraved by Richard Yeo and made with a plain edge. As a pattern it was struck to show or test the design and was never released as currency. It is catalogued as Wilson and Rasmussen 127.
How rare is the 1763 pattern half guinea?
No number struck is recorded. When Goldberg sold an example graded NGC Proof 62 in 2005, the catalogue called it very important and excessively rare. The Royal Mint Museum's own George III patterns include a half guinea of 1762 but not one of 1763.
How does it differ from an ordinary 1763 half guinea?
The pattern has a plain edge and proof surfaces, while currency half guineas of the period have a grained edge. Its portrait is described as a short-haired laureate head with curls over the left shoulder.
History and design
A pattern is a coin struck to show or test a proposed design rather than for use as money. This one is a gold half guinea dated 1763, struck to proof standard with a plain edge, from the early years of George III's reign. Currency half guineas of 1762 and 1763 carried his first portrait; a new one followed in 1764.
The piece is catalogued as Wilson and Rasmussen 127. An example graded NGC Proof 62 was offered by Goldberg in its May 2005 sale, lot 2408, where it was described as very important and excessively rare. No number struck is recorded.
The obverse shows a short-haired laureate head of George III facing right, with curls over the left shoulder, and the legend GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA. Goldberg's catalogue names the engraver as Richard Yeo, and the Royal Mint Museum credits Yeo with the youthful portraits on the early gold of the reign, which he engraved while the Chief Engraver, John Sigismund Tanner, was losing his sight.
The reverse is the crowned shield of the royal arms used on the half guinea of the period. The edge is plain.
Collecting notes
The plain edge and proof surfaces separate it from currency half guineas, whose edges are grained. The Royal Mint Museum holds a related pattern half guinea dated 1762 with a youthful head with ringlets, weighing 3.97 g. The currency coin of these years is the first portrait half guinea.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- DM 84: Goldberg Sale 31, lot 2408, Pattern Proof Half Guinea, 1763, Wildwinds (catalogue text courtesy Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers) (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III coins: DM 84, AV Pattern Proof Half Guinea, 1763, Wildwinds (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III, Royal Mint Museum (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Pattern coin, Wikipedia (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III pattern half-guinea, 1762 (RMM 959), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Catalogue of the Coins, Tokens, Medals, Dies and Seals in the Museum of the Royal Mint, Vol. I Part I (Hocking, 1906), page 162, Nos. 1779 to 1781, Royal Mint Museum library (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1763 1/2 guinea, CoinVarieties (read 12 Oct 2026)
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