King George III, 1787 Silver Shilling,

The hearts are there because they're supposed to be there.

This particular coat of arms represents the Duchy of Brunswick-Luneberg, the German ancestral homeland of the Hanoverian dynasty that ruled Britain from the time of George I, and which George III still ruled as absentee Duke. The Coat of Arms of Brunswick-Luneberg featured two lions on the left, and a lion with hearts in the background to the right. The other symbols on this shield are the Leaping Horse of Hanover at the bottom (which all the branches of the House of Brunswick used as their family symbol) and in the centre, the Crown of Charlemagne, symbolizing the office of Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

The shield with a blue lion and red hearts still features on the coat of arms of the city of Luneberg.

AHA (I see)
For the moment I thought the die-engraver was in love.


Thank you.

Hello recneps, welcome to the forum.

This is a case where we'd have to see pics of your coin to be sure what we're talking about. "WRA" was not officially stamped onto George III shillings. This leaves two possible options:

- Someone stamped it there sometime after it left the mint. Who or why it is impossible to say; perhaps someone with those initials made it themselves as a souvenir to give a loved one.

- Or, it's a replica. "WRA" is suspiciously close to "WRL", the countermark applied by Westair Reproductions Limited on their replica coins. They have made replica George III shillings.

If we could see a pic to confirm it isn't a Westair repro, or you're quite sure that the third letter is not an "L", then it's a genuine 1787 shilling, albeit a "damaged" one.