Baldwin & Sons
Auction 73 8 May 2012
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THE BENTLEY COLLECTION OF BRITISH MILLED GOLD SOVEREIGNS. George III, Sovereign, 1820, large close date figures with open 2, laureate head right, finer engraved hair, date below, 8 and 2 nearly touching, raised die flaw between them, the initial G of legend turned in more in line with date, ascending colon after BRITANNIAR:, lettering clear of rim, the first A with filled top, larger space between X and F, rev struck with inverted die axis, St George slaying dragon right with broken lance, no upper left serif to I of HONI, 7.96g (Marsh 4; MCE 466; S 3785C). Many light hairline marks, nearly extremely fine.
open 2, 8 and 2 nearly touch
Second bust type with finer engraved hair
Pistrucci took the opportunity from 1818-1820 to update his first obverse design for George III, with a second rendition of the bust of George III with different treatment of the hair strands upon the head. The legend variety is always with the ascending colon, the rim beyond the legend is also rendered differently to the previous issues. A note must be added concerning the mintage figures as those always quoted in publications only ever represent what the Mint struck from January to December of any given year. It is a well known fact that much of the mintage of 1820 dated coins continued well into 1821 and Marsh quotes an adjusted figure of estimation of 1820 Sovereigns of 2,101,994.
Some publications suggest that an 1818 dated Sovereign exists with this second type of bust, however the Bentley Collection does not contain an example of this new bust on an 1818 dated Sovereign, and this cataloguer has never seen one (yet). Therefore this second bust on an 1818 Sovereign must be extremely rare. The only other major rarity of the reign of George III the Bentley Collection lacks is the 1820 Sovereign with Roman letter I in date, as illustrated in one of the plates in Marsh’s Gold Sovereign publication. The cataloguer has only ever seen three specimens of this variety.
ex St James’s Auction 5, 27 September 2006, lot 548
Calendar year mintage 931,994
George III died 29 January 1820
The Reign of King George III (1760-1820)
House of Hanover
Born: 4 June 1738
Accession: 25 October 1760
Married: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 8 September 1761
the day they met for the first time.
Coronation: Tuesday, 22 September 1761
Children: nine sons, six daughters
Died: 29 January 1820, aged 81
Estimate: £1500-1800
open 2, 8 and 2 nearly touch
Second bust type with finer engraved hair
Pistrucci took the opportunity from 1818-1820 to update his first obverse design for George III, with a second rendition of the bust of George III with different treatment of the hair strands upon the head. The legend variety is always with the ascending colon, the rim beyond the legend is also rendered differently to the previous issues. A note must be added concerning the mintage figures as those always quoted in publications only ever represent what the Mint struck from January to December of any given year. It is a well known fact that much of the mintage of 1820 dated coins continued well into 1821 and Marsh quotes an adjusted figure of estimation of 1820 Sovereigns of 2,101,994.
Some publications suggest that an 1818 dated Sovereign exists with this second type of bust, however the Bentley Collection does not contain an example of this new bust on an 1818 dated Sovereign, and this cataloguer has never seen one (yet). Therefore this second bust on an 1818 Sovereign must be extremely rare. The only other major rarity of the reign of George III the Bentley Collection lacks is the 1820 Sovereign with Roman letter I in date, as illustrated in one of the plates in Marsh’s Gold Sovereign publication. The cataloguer has only ever seen three specimens of this variety.
ex St James’s Auction 5, 27 September 2006, lot 548
Calendar year mintage 931,994
George III died 29 January 1820
The Reign of King George III (1760-1820)
House of Hanover
Born: 4 June 1738
Accession: 25 October 1760
Married: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 8 September 1761
the day they met for the first time.
Coronation: Tuesday, 22 September 1761
Children: nine sons, six daughters
Died: 29 January 1820, aged 81
Estimate: £1500-1800