4P 1727, 19mm. Obv: GEORGIVS DEI GRA, bust right. Rev: MAG BRI FR ET HIB REX 1727, large 4 surmounted by a crown. S:3658, C:G14d-020. This coin was found near Salisbury in Maryland.  The contemporary French kings were Louis XIV  and Louis XV.

George was third cousin to Anne and traced his claim to the throne back to James I. He was the closest Protestant heir, and a true foreigner to England. He was born in Hanover and was naturalized a British citizen in 1705. He married Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Luneberg-Celle in 1682. They had two children and George died in 1727 in Hanover.

By this time it is clear (as it was with Charles II) that kings held their position by grant of Parliament. They reigned but did not rule, and increasingly any pretense of such faded over the course of the 18th century. George's allegiance to the British throne was often seen as secondary to his interest in Hanover and European politics, reenforced by the fact he was not an English speaker. Domestically, England experienced financial speculation and witnessed the growth and popping of the South Seas bubble in 1720.

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Shilling, 1758, 35mm. Obv: GEORGIVS  II DEI GRATIA, bust left. Rev: M B F ET H REX F D ET, four crowned cuniform shields. S:3711 1758, C:G2SH-170.

George II, son of George I, was born in Hanover in 1683. He was naturalized the same year as his father, 1705. He married Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach in 1705 and they had eight children. He died in London in 1760.

England became embroiled in the war of Austrian succession, allied with Maria-Theresa of Austria against a Prussian (Frederick the Great)-French alliance. George II joined a continental campaign, the last English monarch to do so. At home, the Industrial Revolution laid the seeds of British economic power in the next century.

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Halfpenny, 1742, 28mm. Obv: GEORGIUS | II.REX., portrait left. Rev: BRITAN | NIA, 1742, seated Britannia left. S:3718, C:G2HD-120. The contemporary French king was Louis XV.

Shilling 1817, 24mm. Obv: GEOR:III D.G:| BRITT:REX F.D 1817, portrait right, obverse 4. Rev: HONI SOIT Q MAL Y PENSE(Evil to him who thinks evil - motto of the Order of the Garter), central crest with four quadrants. S3790, C:G3SH-110. The contemporary French kings were Louis XV and Louis XVI.

George III was the first English born (1738 in London) Hanoverian king. He was the grandson of George II. He married (perhaps bigamously) Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761 and they had 15 children who survived childbirth. He died in 1820, but his health failed earlier and his son George acted as Prince Regent after 1811.

This reign witnessed profound changes in the western world. The French revolution in 1789 set the stage for the (temporary) end of French monarchy. Napoleon emerged as a reviver of French power on the continent which led to more than a decade of conflict, ending only with Waterloo. The American colonies gained their independence, Enlightenment ideas swept European society and the Industrial Revolution was transforming Britain, creating huge wealth, solidifying a global empire and creating new class stresses on the Island.

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 Penny (large), 1797, 36mm. Obv: GEORGIUS | III D:G.REX., Portrait right. Rev: BRITANNIA 1797, seated Britannia left. S:3777, C:G31D-005.

2P - Cartwheel (40mm), 1797, Penny (large) 1797 (36mm),  ½ penny (28mm), 1799, farthing, 13mm).

1 shilling, 1826, 26mm. Obv: GEORGIUS IV | DEI GRATIA, 1826, bust left. Rev: BRITTANNIARUS REX FEDEI DEFENSOR, center lion on crown. S:3815.

He was born in London in 1762. He married twice, the first time to Maria Anne (1785), in a marriage not recognized as legal under British law. There were no children from this union. He then married Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1795. It was not a happy marriage, and they had one daughter. George died at Windsor Castle in 1830.

England enjoyed peace abroad and prosperity at home. Industrialism was quickening the pace of urbanization and midland cities such as Birmingham and Manchester were becoming industrial magnets. John Nash was redesigning the West End of London, cutting Regent Street and creating Regents Park. The monarchy had been restored in France and Charles X was on the throne, but, as in England, in a weakened sense of kingship.

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Farthing, 1827, 22mm. Obv: GEORGIUS IV | DEI GRATIA 1827, portrait left. Rev: BRITANNIAR: | rex fid:def:, SEATED bRITANNIA RIGHT. S:3825, C:G4FA-070.

6P, 19 mm. Obv: GVLLELMVS IIII DG | BRITANNIAR REX F D, bust right. Rev: SIX PENCE surmounted by crown, within wreath. 1834 at bottom. S 3836; C:W46D-030.

William was son of George III and brother of George IV. He was born at Buckingham Palace in 1765. He too took a German wife, Adelaide Louisa of Saxe-Meiningen, and they were unsuccessful in having a child that lived more than one year. He died at Windsor in 1837.

This relatively short reign was a time of reform at home and abroad. Whig interests came to dominate Parliament andthe right to vote was extended beyond the traditional property owning classes. The Poor Laws were reformed, among other things facilitating the mobility of labor. In France, the July Revolution (1830) overthrew Charles X, ending the Bourbon dynasty, and bringing Louis Philippe, the "Citizen King," to the throne.

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Farthing,  1834, 22mm. Obv: GULIELMOS IIII | DEI GRATIA 1834, portrait right. Rev: BRITANNIAR: | REX:DEF:, seated Britannia. S:3848, C:W4FA-025.

Half sovereign (gold) 1892, 19mm. Obv: VICTORIA | DEI GRATIA, portrait left. Rev: BRITANNIARUM | REGINA FID:DEF 1892, quartered shield surmounted by crown.  S:3869d?, C:VJHS-330.

Victoria was born in 1819 in London. She succeeded her uncle William IV, and came to the throne in 1837. In 1840 she married Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had nine children. She died after a 64 year reign in 1901, ending the rule of the House of Hanover.

This was the age of Pax Britannica, a time of British military and commercial dominance. Europe was generally free of conflict, at least on the global scale as during the Napoleonic wars, and English industrial power was unchallenged. This industrial power was celebrated in the Great Exhibition at the Crystal palace in 1851.  England had a global empire and lived by manufacturing and trade. In Europe, Germany became a modern unified nation state and growing European power.