The Gary Oddie Collection of English Regal Shillings

George III (1760-1820), Pre-1816 issues, AYRSHIRE, Ayr, William Fullarton, Pattern Shilling, 1799, in silver, by J. Milton, bust of Prince of Wales left, no cud under bust, rev. crowned cruciform shields displayed correctly, unbroken label of difference on impaled Scottish arms, no flaws, edge plain, 4.36g/12h (Dykes, BNJ 2002, p.154, fig. 5; DH 5 bis II). Minor scratches in front of face, otherwise virtually as struck and deeply toned, rare, an original striking £300-£360

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, The Gary Oddie Collection of English Regal Shillings.

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Collection

‘Gregory’ Collection [Baldwin ‘Basement’], Part I, Baldwin Auction 44, 2 May 2006, lot 556.

Col. William Fullarton (1754-1808), lawyer and diplomat, Whig MP successively for Haddington, Horsham and Ayrshire, 1787-1803, was a personal friend of the Prince of Wales (the future George IV). In January 1799 he secured the Prince’s tacit approval for a coinage of silver and copper ostensibly to circulate for the benefit of the Troon Canal Co in Ayrshire. On Fullarton’s behalf the coin dealer Matthew Young engaged the medallist John Milton to make dies for a shilling, but Young had inadvertently advised his coin collecting client, Sarah Sophia Banks, sister of Sir Joseph Banks, a prominent member of the Privy Council Committee on Coin, what was planned. Although some shillings were made in February 1799 and Fullarton defended his venture by stating that the coins did not bear the portrait of the monarch, the Privy Council persuaded him to drop his scheme in July (Dykes, BNJ 2002, pp.149-163)