guinea

[crosshall]

how did the guinea originate

[sft42]

I am assuming you mean the coin and not the pig or the country....if so then

The Guinea coin of 1663 was the first British machine-struck gold coin. The first one was produced on 6 February 1663 (1662 Old Style), and was made legal currency by a Proclamation of 27 March 1663. The denomination was originally worth one pound, or twenty shillings, but an increase in the price of gold during Charles II's reign led to it being traded at a premium.

If you'd like further reading on the long history of the guinea then click here

http://www.4reference.net/encyclopedias/wikipedia/
British_coin_Guinea.html

[David H]

Actually, either way they all have the same origin. The coin is called a guinea as that's where the gold was mined. The name is from the Tuareg 'Aginaw' meaning black people. (Brewer's dictionary of names). It used to be a region from Senegal to Gabon and remained as the area that became the country.