Token Great Britain KETTLE George III Spade Guinea 1802

At first blush this coin looks like a genuine (gold) guinea from King George III of Great Britain. Nice! Those are worth oodles of money. But, after a little study, two problems arise.

Problem 1: They did not make guineas with the 'spade' reverse pattern in 1802

Problem 2: What's this word KETTLE doing under King George's bust?

Hmmm. This is a fake. Or, better, a gaming token made to look like a genuine spade guinea. You can see similar, but not identical, fake coins at this CoinQuest link (click here), and we have genuine spade guineas on this page (click here).

KETTLE & SONS were counter manufacturers in Birmingham, England during the early part of the nineteenth century. Their signature appears on several different medals and tokens of the period. So this is a gaming counter made to look like a genuine guinea. It is made out of brass, not gold, so the value is quite low. You would be able to buy one like our picture on eBay for a few US dollars. A well preserved specimen might fetch as much as $25.

CoinQuest thanks Michelle, who sent us this picture of her gaming token.
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