1758 Shilling

[El Cobrador]

A dealer I patronize recently purchased a small, older collection (actually more of  mishmash) at which I got to take a look before he sorted it.  For whatever reason this was the sole British coin in the group and I was quite happy to acquire it for as little as he was willing to sell it as part of a larger lot.

Is there a recorded mintage for this issue? Also, would I be wrong in thinking that, being the last shilling of George II struck, upon his death it was rather more likely for individuals to have removed such from circulation and put them aside as mementos?

[Rob]

No recorded mintage, but very common as they were struck over a number of years. Yours has graffiti in the angles that has been partially removed and it looks to have suffered from a bit of haymarking. I suggest it was dug up at some point looking at the surfaces.

[Peckris]

Yes, along with 1754 copper the 1758 shillings continued to be struck into the reign of George III. Note that Northumberlands and the 1787 BoE specials apart, 1758 was the last regular date for shilling issues until 1816, which is an enormous stretch. One can only speculate that they were struck even after the Northumberlands of 1763.

[Paulus]

2 hours ago, Peckris said:

Yes, along with 1754 copper the 1758 shillings continued to be struck into the reign of George III. Note that Northumberlands and the 1787 BoE specials apart, 1758 was the last regular date for shilling issues until 1816, which is an enormous stretch. One can only speculate that they were struck even after the Northumberlands of 1763.

And there were only 2,000 Northumberlands I believe, which wouldn't make much of a dent in the demand for shillings and most probably didn't circulate ... 

[Peter]

Plenty more Northumberlands struck in China

[copper123]

Coins at this time were not really collected as momentos , this really took off in victorian times and after (thats why 1901 and 1902 coins are so common)

A shilling would have been worth a couple of days pay at the time so only the rich would have kept one as a keepsake, remember the georges (germans)were never really that popular with the public till george the third at least .

It might have been hoarded more for its intrinsic silver value there was a lot of this esp about 1790-1815 when the recoinage produced lighter coins

Edited May 21, 2018 by copper123