July 2006 - following information was from an eBay auction:
IMITATION SPADE GUINEAS
There is 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, as “give away’s”
or promotional items. Many were pierced at manufacture for suspension purposes
and it is perfectly acceptable to collect coins in that condition. There
are over 1,000 different types to collect and this is a growing sector of
Numismatic interest. Whilst some pieces – such as the “In Memory of the
good old days” are extremely common, some of the advertising pieces are
excessively rare and command prices of well over £100. The work of reference
for the whole series is “A Thousand Guineas” by W Bryce Neilson, published
in 2003 and covering 70 pages. Cost £16. [The book "A Thousand Guineas"
is available from
Galata for about
$37 US including shipping (price subject to change)]
