1797 George III - History/Question

[adventurer]

I live in U.S. ... My dad was stationed on a U.S. Air Base in U.K. near London during Viet Nam War. He brought home a box of misc. U.K. coins. Mostly penny & 1/2 penny, however, there is one coin I am most intrigued by. It is a 1797 George III in FAIR condition. It is very worn. The intriguing part is... It has a business name stamped into obverse... it reads "H. Dickson & Co. Greenside Edin." I have tried to do some reasearch into this stamping with nominal success. I assume this was done as advertisement. If anyone could shed some light on it, it is appreciated! History of H. Dickson? Appreciation/Depreciation of coin value? Etc.? Notice photo.

[YeOldeCollector]

Welcome to the forum Adventurer!

 

 

Unfortunately, your coin is a very worn example. However, the advertisement still retains much detail. I have a feeling that your "Greenside" refers to the Greenside area of Edinburgh which would match the legend. So I assume that there was a merchant trader or shop "H Dickson and Company" located in somewhere like Greenside Row in Edinburgh. I cannot offer you any more information regarding that though.

 

Generally, these are not terribly collectable unless aesthetically pleasing. I have sold many in the past which have gone to be melted down as they are often in such poor condition as yours that their copper content is worth more than what a collector would pay. But what you have there is a tangible piece of history as well as an example of a different style of advertising from what we are used to, you also have some sentimental links to it so I would say that it is worth more to you than you could get from selling it.

[adventurer]

Thanks fo the welcome. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be worth much. But, as you say, it is a neat piece of history; and yes, it does have some sentimental value. As do most of my coins, given to me by my father & grandfather.

 

thanks again.