St. James's Auctions
Auction 39 30 September 2016
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George III, pattern five pounds, 1820LX, by B. Pistrucci, laur. head r., rev. St. George and the dragon (S.3783; W&R.177 [R4]; L&S.207; Montagu 176; Douglas-Morris 145; Selig 1158; KM.Pn84), in contemporary fitted case, hairlines across the fields, short scuff on king's cheek, otherwise brilliant with reflective fields, the portrait and St. George motifs in cameo contrast, practically as struck, exceedingly rare with very few in private hands
Boldly signed by Benedetto Pistrucci on each side, this magnificently engraved pattern for a £5 coin that was never issued is one of the truly rare 19th century English gold coins, and the appearance of one at auction, in any state of preservation, is a collecting opportunity. A major appeal of this coin is its presentation of the largest and sharpest image of the engraver's motif of Saint George slaying the mythical dragon. Master designer Pistrucci was assisted in the difficult and time-consuming engraving process by William Wellesley Pole, whose initials appear on the ground-line of the reverse just at the end of the dragon's tail. Pole generally prepared or assisted in sinking reverse dies, and his WWP initials appear, subtly, on other coins of this reign. However, Pole played a much larger role in both advancements and achievements at the Royal Mint at this time - elder brother of the Duke of Wellington (England's most famous military leader at the time), he was appointed Master of the Mint in 1814, holding this position until 1823. It was a critical time, because the older engravers were becoming infirm, unable to produce good die-work, and Pole retired them. He was a stickler for detail who 'threw himself into every aspect of Mint activity' (Challis, A New History of the Royal Mint, page 473) and was accordingly praised by none other than Sir Joseph Banks, the king's closest friend and the richest man in England. Shortly after assuming office, Pole established the mint's collection of coins and medals (Challis, page 479) and it was Pole who began the practice of having the mint strike tiny numbers of Proof coins each year. These became the foundation of the mint's collection. It was immensely enhanced in 1818 when Sir Joseph and Lady Sarah Banks gave their fabulous collection (more than two thousand pieces) to the king's collection. Pole was also deeply involved in causing the old machinery at the mint to be replaced with Boulton and Watt's coining presses, and in 1816 his ambitions to introduce a so-called New Coinage became reality. The famous battle of tempers of the day - the object of other engravers' anger being the Italian who loved spelling out his entire last name but finally settled upon 'B.P.' - was settled when Pole decided upon Pistrucci to work on the most important of the New Coinage designs. Most upset were the Wyons, Thomas and William (then only 16 years old but already second engraver under Thomas), who occupied their new posts but had to watch while Pistrucci engraved the king's last portraits and, most famously, created the St. George motif for British gold. Perhaps in gratitude, Pistrucci engraved a superb medal for Pole himself (Challis, page 473, figure 45). The Wyons also possessed great talent as engravers, but once again they had to sit by and allow Pole's champion to engrave perhaps the most important dies of their time, those made to commemorate Waterloo (although the medal itself was never struck). The Duke of Wellington, Pole and Pistrucci thereby became forever intertwined in celebrating one of England's finest moments. Nevertheless, Pistrucci's days were numbered, and his last truly great creation for a gold coin was the one we see here, the 1820 pattern for a gold £5 coin that never came to be. Perhaps the most curious fact about this coin is that it is dated literally at the very end of George III's long reign. It had been close on to a century since any gold piece of this size and value had been minted for commerce, and the most recent pattern for a 5-guineas coin had been almost half a century previously. Clearly, the financial world was modernising as banking drew more and more on paper vouchers representing wealth: £5 coins would occur only in proof state or patterns until the Jubilee issue of 1887, and relatively few known examples of 1887, 1893 and 1902 non-Proof £5 pieces show much real wear - again, the reasons included the impractical values of these coins for most subjects. Gone forever would be huge gold coins envisioned for commerce and specially engraved by major artistic talents. The world had changed. Images became flatter, less inspiring, more easily reproduced in small formats. The days of glorious golden images of England's symbolic greatness faded into history. (£250000-275000)
Boldly signed by Benedetto Pistrucci on each side, this magnificently engraved pattern for a £5 coin that was never issued is one of the truly rare 19th century English gold coins, and the appearance of one at auction, in any state of preservation, is a collecting opportunity. A major appeal of this coin is its presentation of the largest and sharpest image of the engraver's motif of Saint George slaying the mythical dragon. Master designer Pistrucci was assisted in the difficult and time-consuming engraving process by William Wellesley Pole, whose initials appear on the ground-line of the reverse just at the end of the dragon's tail. Pole generally prepared or assisted in sinking reverse dies, and his WWP initials appear, subtly, on other coins of this reign. However, Pole played a much larger role in both advancements and achievements at the Royal Mint at this time - elder brother of the Duke of Wellington (England's most famous military leader at the time), he was appointed Master of the Mint in 1814, holding this position until 1823. It was a critical time, because the older engravers were becoming infirm, unable to produce good die-work, and Pole retired them. He was a stickler for detail who 'threw himself into every aspect of Mint activity' (Challis, A New History of the Royal Mint, page 473) and was accordingly praised by none other than Sir Joseph Banks, the king's closest friend and the richest man in England. Shortly after assuming office, Pole established the mint's collection of coins and medals (Challis, page 479) and it was Pole who began the practice of having the mint strike tiny numbers of Proof coins each year. These became the foundation of the mint's collection. It was immensely enhanced in 1818 when Sir Joseph and Lady Sarah Banks gave their fabulous collection (more than two thousand pieces) to the king's collection. Pole was also deeply involved in causing the old machinery at the mint to be replaced with Boulton and Watt's coining presses, and in 1816 his ambitions to introduce a so-called New Coinage became reality. The famous battle of tempers of the day - the object of other engravers' anger being the Italian who loved spelling out his entire last name but finally settled upon 'B.P.' - was settled when Pole decided upon Pistrucci to work on the most important of the New Coinage designs. Most upset were the Wyons, Thomas and William (then only 16 years old but already second engraver under Thomas), who occupied their new posts but had to watch while Pistrucci engraved the king's last portraits and, most famously, created the St. George motif for British gold. Perhaps in gratitude, Pistrucci engraved a superb medal for Pole himself (Challis, page 473, figure 45). The Wyons also possessed great talent as engravers, but once again they had to sit by and allow Pole's champion to engrave perhaps the most important dies of their time, those made to commemorate Waterloo (although the medal itself was never struck). The Duke of Wellington, Pole and Pistrucci thereby became forever intertwined in celebrating one of England's finest moments. Nevertheless, Pistrucci's days were numbered, and his last truly great creation for a gold coin was the one we see here, the 1820 pattern for a gold £5 coin that never came to be. Perhaps the most curious fact about this coin is that it is dated literally at the very end of George III's long reign. It had been close on to a century since any gold piece of this size and value had been minted for commerce, and the most recent pattern for a 5-guineas coin had been almost half a century previously. Clearly, the financial world was modernising as banking drew more and more on paper vouchers representing wealth: £5 coins would occur only in proof state or patterns until the Jubilee issue of 1887, and relatively few known examples of 1887, 1893 and 1902 non-Proof £5 pieces show much real wear - again, the reasons included the impractical values of these coins for most subjects. Gone forever would be huge gold coins envisioned for commerce and specially engraved by major artistic talents. The world had changed. Images became flatter, less inspiring, more easily reproduced in small formats. The days of glorious golden images of England's symbolic greatness faded into history. (£250000-275000)