1/4 Dollar British Raj (1858-1947) Silver George IV (1762-1830)

1822, British West Indies, George IV. Silver 1/4 Dollar “Anchor Coinage” Coin.

Mint year: 1822 Reference: KM-3. Denomination: 1/4 Dollar Ruler: George IV of England Diameter: 25mm Weight: 6.65gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Crown above anchor, flanked by fractional dollar value (IV) at sides. Date below. Legend: COLONIAR : BRITAN : MONET : 1822

Reverse: British coat-of-arms within foliage. Legend: GEORGIUS IV D:G: BRITANNIARUM REX F:D:

The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire. The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean. As of 1912, the British West Indies were divided into eight colonies: The Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica (with its dependencies the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands), Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands. Between 1958 and 1962 all of the island territories except the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, British Honduras and British Guiana were organised into the West Indies Federation. It was hoped that the Federation would become independent as a single nation, but it had limited powers, many practical problems and a lack of popular support. Consequently, the West Indies Federation was dissolved. Most of the territories, including all the larger ones, are now independent as separate countries with membership to many international forums such as the Organization of American States, the Association of Caribbean States, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Caribbean Development Bank among others. The remainder are British overseas territories. All the former nations of the British West Indies, except the Commonwealth of Dominica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, are Commonwealth Realms.

George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his father’s relapse into insanity from an illness that is now suspected to have been porphyria.

George IV is remembered largely for his extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the British Regency. By 1797 his weight had reached 17 stone 7 pounds (111 kg or 245 lb), and by 1824 his corset was made for a waist of 50 inches (127 cm). He was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace, and Sir Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. He was largely instrumental in the foundation of the National Gallery, London and King’s College London.

He had a poor relationship with both his father and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, whom he even forbade to attend his coronation. For most of George’s regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister. Though George IV played little part in the Napoleonic Wars, he did interfere in politics. He resisted Catholic emancipation, and introduced the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill to Parliament in a desperate, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt, to divorce his wife.