Half guinea

The obverse showed a fine right-facing bust of the king wearing a Laurel wreath, surrounded by the legend CAROLVS II DEI GRATIA, while the reverse showed four crowned cruciform shields bearing the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, between which were four sceptres, and in the centre were four interlinked "C"s, surrounded by the inscription MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX date.

John Roettier continued to design the dies for this denomination in the reign of King James II.

With the removal of James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, his daughter Mary, and her husband Prince William of Orange ruled jointly by agreement as co-monarchs.

Records show that Bower was instructed in July 1689 'to make a puncheon for the Halfe Guinneys ande to worke it in the Mint'; the heads of the halfpenny, penny, and half guinea of 1689 don't share the harmony of design of later Roettier work.

William's head faces right on his coins, with the legend GVLIELMVS III DEI GRATIA, while the reverse design of William and Mary's reign was judged to be unsuccessful, so the design reverted to that used by Charles II and James II, but with a small shield with the lion of Nassau in the centre, with the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX date.

With the Union of England and Scotland the design of the reverse of the half guinea was changed.

The dies for all half-guineas of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by John Croker, an immigrant originally from Dresden in the Duchy of Saxony.

The obverse shows the right-facing portrait of the king with the legend GEORGIVS D G M BR FR ET HIB REX F D. The reverse follows the same general design as before, except the order of the shields is England+Scotland, France, Ireland, and Hanover, with the legend BRVN ET L DVX S R I A TH ET EL date (Brunsuicensis Et Lueneburgensis Dux, Sacri Romani Imperii Archi-Tessarius et Elector, "Of Brunswick and Lüneburg Duke, of the Holy Roman Empire Arch-Treasurer and Elector").

King George II's guinea pieces marks are a complex issue, with eight obverses and five reverses used through the 33 years of the reign.

Some coins issued between 1729 and 1739 carry the mark EIC under the king's head, to indicate the gold was provided by the East India Company, while some 1745 coins carry the mark LIMA to indicate the gold came from Admiral Anson's round-the-world voyage.

The half guinea was minted in nearly all the years of the long reign of King George III (1760–1820).

In 1787 a new design of reverse featuring a spade-shaped shield was introduced, with the same legend; this has become known as the Spade Half-Guinea.