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Great Britain: George II
1727 to 1760
Denomination: AR Shilling 1739
Obverse: Bust left. "GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA" Reverse: Crowned shields in quad arrangement around sun-burst. "M.B.F. ET H. REX. FDB ET L. D. S. R. I A. T. ET. E 1739". Dia/Wgt: 25.5 mm/ 5.7 gm Reference: SCBC 3701 The reverse incription means: Magnae Britanniae, France and Hiberiae, Rex (King of Britain, France and Ireland), Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith), Brunsviciensis Et Luneburgen-sis Dux (Duke of Luneburg and Brunswick),Sacri Romani Emperii Archi-Thesaurarius Et Elector. (Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire). |
Denomination: AR Sixpence 1757
Obverse: Bust left. "GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA" Reverse: Crowned shields in quad arrangement around sun-burst. "M.B.F. ET H. REX. FD. B ET L. D. S. R. I A. T. ET. E 1757". Dia/Wgt: 21.3 mm/ 3.0 gm Reference: SCBC 3711 |
Denomination: AE Halfpenny 1752
Obverse: Bust left. "GEORGIVS II REX" Reverse: Britannia seated."BRITANNIA/ 1752" Dia/Wgt: 28.1 mm/ 9.1 gm Reference: SCBC 3719 |
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GEORGE II (1683-1760), King of Great Britain and Ireland, (House of Hanover) (11th June 1727 to 25th October 1760), and Elector of Hanover (1727-1760), was the son of King George I, and was born at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover (now in Lower Saxony state, Germany) on November 10, 1683, and he grew up a German prince. In 1705 he married Caroline of Ansbach, an intelligent woman who wielded great influence over her husband and thereby on government. Like his father, George II was more interested in Hanover than in Great Britain, and during his many absences from London Caroline frequently acted as regent. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), the king subordinated the interests of Great Britain to those of his German principality. This policy was unpopular in Great Britain, but the king won admiration for his courage at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria (1743), the last engagement in which a British monarch participated in person. George II contributed to the material progress of Great Britain, mainly because he was shrewd enough to listen to his wife and heed the advice of his ministers. He retained Sir Robert Walpole as chief minister only upon Caroline's insistence, and he later relied on Henry Pelham, and, towards the end of his reign, William Pitt the Elder, although he originally had a great dislike for him. George's reign was marked by the suppression of the last major Jacobite rebellion and by the successful prosecution-at Pitt's initiative-of the Seven Years' War. He was succeeded by his grandson George III. George died at Kensington Palace, London, on October 25, 1760. |