St. James's Auctions
Auction 39 30 September 2016
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† George I, guinea, 1714, with title of Prince Elector on reverse, first laur. head r., rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles (S.3628), certified and graded by NGC as About Uncirculated 55, a handsome coin possessing a sharp and even strike, considerable lustre and only light wear, rare so fine
In 1714, the blood-lines of the English monarchs were curiously enriched upon the passing of Queen Anne. All of her fourteen children died before she did, so Parliament was charged with the need to select her successor. But Parliament was divided, especially as concerns the Scots ministers. Anne's half-brother was James Stuart, and a Catholic, known in his day as both James III and the Old Pretender. The English Parliament wanted nothing to do with the old Jacobite divisiveness which had festered from 1683. Parliament's selection of William of Orange and his wife, Mary, daughter of the abdicated king, to succeed her Catholic father quashed this new potential for civil war. The ensuing Bloodless Revolution (1688-1689) saved England from strife, but the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne, in 1714, threatened another potential end to peace. After much debate and even looming battle, Parliament chose her successor to the English throne, a woman of great ancestry including the Stuart line, the Empress Sophia of Hanover. She would have become Queen Sophia I of Great Britain had she not collapsed in her gardens in Germany and died at age 83. But the choice had been made, and the title consequently fell to her son, Prince George, who thus became King George I of England among a long list of his titles, including his most powerful position as Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His coronation caused rioting throughout England, but he showed himself to be a beneficent king who visited England only occasionally. All of his titles appeared in abbreviated Latin on his English coins, most famously as PR EL on this lovely guinea. His days as the English monarch were brief, however, and in 1727 his English throne was left to his only child, who dutifully became King George II, no longer a German but a true Englishman. (£10000-15000)
In 1714, the blood-lines of the English monarchs were curiously enriched upon the passing of Queen Anne. All of her fourteen children died before she did, so Parliament was charged with the need to select her successor. But Parliament was divided, especially as concerns the Scots ministers. Anne's half-brother was James Stuart, and a Catholic, known in his day as both James III and the Old Pretender. The English Parliament wanted nothing to do with the old Jacobite divisiveness which had festered from 1683. Parliament's selection of William of Orange and his wife, Mary, daughter of the abdicated king, to succeed her Catholic father quashed this new potential for civil war. The ensuing Bloodless Revolution (1688-1689) saved England from strife, but the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne, in 1714, threatened another potential end to peace. After much debate and even looming battle, Parliament chose her successor to the English throne, a woman of great ancestry including the Stuart line, the Empress Sophia of Hanover. She would have become Queen Sophia I of Great Britain had she not collapsed in her gardens in Germany and died at age 83. But the choice had been made, and the title consequently fell to her son, Prince George, who thus became King George I of England among a long list of his titles, including his most powerful position as Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His coronation caused rioting throughout England, but he showed himself to be a beneficent king who visited England only occasionally. All of his titles appeared in abbreviated Latin on his English coins, most famously as PR EL on this lovely guinea. His days as the English monarch were brief, however, and in 1727 his English throne was left to his only child, who dutifully became King George II, no longer a German but a true Englishman. (£10000-15000)