This listing is for 1788 George III Spade 1/2 Guinea Counter Token - In Memory Of The Good Old Days

Originally minted from 1787 to 1799, the spade guineas and half spade guineas were

 later copied extensively and used as advertisement and game tokens. This 

example, which was made during the reign of Queen Victoria.

There was an extensive series of Advertising and Standard Imitation Spade Guineas, issued in brass and not gold, mostly in the 1800’s during the reign of Queen Victoria although to avoid the Counterfeit Laws they have the bust of King George III, mainly, and the reverse is usually the spade shield, – hence the name “spade guinea”.

Many are also dated in the 1700’s and not in the 1800’s. Their purpose was as gaming gambling counters, to look like sovereigns and half sovereigns, also to show off the expertise of the engravers and manufacturers many of whom were named on the piece – mainly from Birmingham, UK – and as advertising tokens for many types of business,