George III (1760-1820), silver Shilling, 1798, so-called “Dorrien and Magens” type, older laureate and cuirassed bust right, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, large lettering both sides, GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA., rev. cruciform emblematic shields, six strings to Irish harp, garter star at centre, crowns in angles, date at bottom with stop either side, Latin continuous legend and toothed border surrounding, M.B.F. ET. H. REX. F.D. B.ET. L. D. S. R. I. A. T ET. E., weight 6.02g (ESC 1227 R5; Bull 2139 R5; C&R 1011 R5; S.3747). Attractive even toning, light short scratch on cheek with hairlines, otherwise practically as struck, good extremely fine and very rare, one of the key coins in the currency Shilling series. Provenance: Ex Spink and Son Ltd, purchased 1988. Ex Herman Selig Collection, part II, Coins of George III, Spink Coin Auction 131, 2nd March 1999, lot 1223 and colour plate page 12. Ex Spink Numismatic Circular, June 1999, item 2454. The story of the “Dorrien-Magens” Shilling has been more fully written up in the past in volumes like John Craig’s “The Mint” and a specific article by G P Dyer and P P Gasper in the British Numismatic Journal in 1982, volume 52 from which this footnote is sourced. Silver had been in short supply during the years of the Napoleonic Wars, and the Mint price that was paid to coin silver supplied was 62 Shillings for each pound of weight, with bankers and others having the right to bring silver in to sell at this level. As the price of silver generally remained higher than this coinage rate naturally no silver came in to the Mint, but around January to February of 1798 the price of silver fluctuated and dipped as low as 60 shillings a pound; so a group of bankers decided to exercise their right, and 9,895 pound weight of silver was physically presented to the Mint in tranches over the next few months, enough to produce over 600,000 shillings. The vociferous spokesperson of the group was Mr Magens Dorrien-Magens of 22 Finch Lane, who was a partner of the banking firm Dorrien-Magens, Mello, Martin and Harrison; who also sent some silver (perhaps in a private capacity) with the banker Mr Hoare. Other bankers that sent in silver were Barclay, Binn, Wood, Barnett, Robarts, Devaynes, Prescott and Hankey. Work started at the Mint to convert the bullion to silver Shillings dated 1798, as per the coin offered herewith; however the activity did not go un-noticed by the Committee on Coin, and a stop on more silver bullion coming in was made, with the issue of the coins effectively embargoed as of the 9th May 1798, when some 4,500 pound weight of the 9,895 pound total was still un-assayed. The exact reasons for stoppage are not specifically recorded, but Lord Liverpool the head of the committee and others were worried about the impact of a release of the shillings upon the flow of gold, which would no doubt be exchanged for the new silver to then be melted down as gold bullion, and leave the country at this difficult time of war. The bankers protested with Magens Dorrien-Magens as their spokesman in a petition of 28th June 1798, (Dorrien-Magens was in fact the earliest to deposit silver of the group of bankers), and payment was eventually granted as exchequer bills after the 20th July 1798 by which time the bankers were out of pocket from the loss of interest on the money tied up in the embargoed silver, with eventual payment of the same settled later by the 24th August 1798. As to the silver, the un-assayed portion was melted, along with perhaps as many as 34,000 of the coins and reformed as bars, but did not find its way to the Bank of England vault until an instruction of June 1799, with physical delivery in July. Dyer and Gaspar estimate that as much as 550 pounds weight of the silver may have been available as finished coin (c.34,000) by the 9th May 1798 but probably less (their estimate c.30,000). The quantity of this coin survived in the care of the Mint for up to 12 months before eventual melting to bars and sending to the Bank of England. There is a record MINT 9/212 dating from 1799 highlighting a discrepancy in the quantity of inferior silver that is equivalent to 4 pounds, 7 ounces and 8 penny weights of standard silver, compared to what it was on the 9th May 1798, indicating that perhaps up to 285 pieces had gone astray of the coins in the months the coins had laid idle. This would be a maximum number that escaped, and survival rates till present time are usually a very small percentage of what was available contemporarily at the time. When Dyer and Gaspar wrote their article in 1982 they traced only 14 examples which would indicate a survival of 5% of the maximum that could have escaped (still a high number compared to other currency coin survival rates). Today we can add some more to this number and there are perhaps just over twenty examples now known, eight being institutionalised in museums. This Shilling represents what is the ultimate currency Shilling date for the reign if not the series, with such an interesting story of economic and social history for an issue that was to be circulated in great quantity, subsequently embargoed and then the vast majority melted.
