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The Highest Graded Pattern Garter Dollar of George III Dated 1804
George III (1760-1820), silver Pattern Garter Dollar, 1804. Struck by the Soho Mint entirely over a Span-
ish Empire Eight Reales, engraved by C H Kuchler, laureate and draped bust right.:C.H.K on truncation,
Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, GEORGIUS III. DEI GRATIA ., top leaf points to up-
right of letter D, undertype of Eight Reales visible both sides, Rev. struck en medaille, quartered shield
of arms with a crowned escutcheon of the Arms of Hanover, within crowned Order of the garter, with
French motto HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE., date either side of crown, DOLLAR below gar-
ter, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR, edge
showing decoration from the Eight Reales (ESC 182 dies I/3; Bull 1963; L&S 31; KM Pn66). Attractively
toned, practically as struck,
very rare,
in NGC holder graded PF 65, Pop 2; tied for the finest examples
graded at both services.
$10,000
NGC certification 2724337-001 -their label shows die variety incorrectly as J/3. Enough of the undertype of the Eight Reales is ap-
parent to see that this is an 1803 dated Mexico City Mint piece, when such details are visible it can only enhance the interest in such
a proof striking. This coin ties for the highest graded example of this pattern (as labelled as of October 2017) on the NGC Census.
The Bank of England Dollar was the successor to the emergency countermarked coins that were struck in relation to a crisis with the
silver coinage at the end of the 18th Century, where the supply of silver in commerce and for the Mint had dwindled partly due to
the Wars in France after the Revolution in 1797, but mainly because the Mint was saddled with a maximum price they were allowed
to pay for silver by a law of 1601, which 175 plus years later was not adequate for purpose. Therefore, from March 1797 the Bank
of England released stocks of its Spanish dollars and halves each with an oval countermark. They did not really alleviate the prob-
lem of smaller change and were issued on an off with the oval countermark, until a more complex larger octagonal mark replaced
them from January to May 1804, as the oval pieces were being counterfeited. Eventually the octagonal replacements were also cop-
ied widely and the ultimate solution was to have the Soho Mint totally overstrike the remaining stocks of Spanish Dollars with a new
Bank of England design. This piece was one of the proposed pattern designs for this overstrike of the dollar that was not ultimately
adopted, and was a similar design to that just introduced on the gold Half-Guinea of 1804-13 and the later Military Guinea of 1813.