Quarter Guinea
The Quarter Guinea is a very rare British coin, being minted for only two years – 1718 and 1762. As the name suggests it was worth a quarter of a guinea – five shillings and threepence (27 1/2p by today's standard).
The price of silver had risen considerably at the beginning of the 1700’s and fewer silver coins were being struck. In order to produce a coin similar in value to the Silver Crown it was decided the Quarter Guinea would be struck.
The resulting coin was impractically small and was instantly unpopular. Losing one was easy to do given the size and meant losing a significant amount of money. The coin was so unpopular that it was discontinued after 1718.
When George III came to the throne in 1760, the price of silver had once again risen and an alternative coin to fill the gap was needed. The Quarter Guinea was once again struck to the same specification as before and once again proved unpopular enough to be discontinued after just a single year.
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