Hey Diggers,
I wanted to share my latest coin acquisition and tell you the interesting history behind it. It is an 1804 Bank of England 5 Shillings Dollar.
England was at war with Napoleon and France and shortages of silver coins were becoming a major problem. In 1802, Napoleon violated the Treaty of Amiens and the threat of invasion by France became very real. This threat of invasion started a panic and people started hoarding coinage (as they always do when war threatens). The need for silver coins became so great that by 1803 banks were offering 101 pounds (paper money) for 60 pounds in face value of silver coins! The British government had to act quickly to avert a complete financial failure. England had captured several hundred thousand 8 reales from Napoleon but they were not legal tender in England.
So a plan was developed to over-stamp them with a small portrait of the king. However, it wasn't very long before counterfeit coins began showing up in the market. The mint decided the only way to prevent the counterfeiting was to over-stamp the entire coin! Between 1804 and 1811 about 412,000 8 reales were over-stamped as Bank of England Dollars (although they all bore the date of 1804).
Many of these over-stamped coins still show evidence of their original 8 reales images visible through the over-stamp. These are actually more desirable to collectors.
The coin I purchased does not show any of the old images although the lettering is weak in many places. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed this history lesson as much as I did.
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