Baldwin & Sons
Auction 73 8 May 2012
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THE BENTLEY COLLECTION OF BRITISH MILLED GOLD SOVEREIGNS. George IV, Sovereign, 1828, second bare head left, date below, rev crowned shield of arms, quartered with the arms of Hanover as an escutcheon, 7.95g (Marsh 13 R4; MCE 479; S 3801). Heavy surface marks and scuffing, nearly very fine, reverse very fine and an extremely rare date.
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased c.1998
Calendar year mintage 386,182
The 1828 Sovereign is considered the key date for the reign of George IV and is one of the hardest to find in the London series issued by the Royal Mint. Only the 1819 Sovereign of George III is rarer (the Bentley specimen of the 1819 will be offered in part three next year).
The reason why the 1828 Sovereign is so rare is not widely known and it came down to economics at the Royal Mint. To make a new dated die is an intensive and laborious process, in both time and cost, and considering the average longevity of a die, the Mint considered itself very lucky at the dawn of 1828 when it found a number of 1827 obverse dies were still in perfectly good working order. Therefore, rather than make new dies for 1828 immediately, it was decided to wait until the supply of 1827 dated dies dwindled. This did not finally occur until November of 1828 as it seems there was only a low demand for gold sovereigns this year. It was only in December that 1828 Sovereigns started to be minted and this probably did not last long into 1829, therefore the actual number made dated 1828 can be considered to be a fraction of the calendar year mintage quoted above, perhaps a mere twelfth as an educated estimate. It is surprising that the 1827 dies were not simply overstruck to convert them to display 1828, but it seems that overstamping dates was not common practice until the reign of Queen Victoria. Overdates during this period are few and far between in all denominations.
Second Type
William Wyon
Jean Baptiste Merlen
The second standard design for the currency Sovereigns of King George IV from 1825-1830 inclusive had an obverse designed by William Wyon based upon the sculpted model bust by Francis Legatt Chantrey (1781-1841). A marble bust that the King was particularly pleased with, and which was first used as an inspirational model for the coinage on the gold Two Pound piece of 1823 engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen shown here.
The Second Type Obverse and Reverse of King George IV
The former abbreviated legend used on the first type obverse, now appears across both sides of the second type coins and in a fuller form, on obverse GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA and continuing on the reverse BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF: The lettering no longer has any decorative compartments. The reverse of the Sovereigns of this type, also engraved by Merlen, have a crowned quartered shield of arms, with an escutcheon of the Hanoverian Arms. It has been noted in the Bentley Collection catalogue for the first time that the semee of hearts in these Hanoverian Arms generally contains eight hearts. However it has been noted the 1825 plain edge proof only has seven, meaning it was an earlier pattern rendering of the reverse. Otherwise the reverse always depicts nine strings in the Irish harp, and some inner upper lis of the Scottish arms are detached from their frame. The straight grained milled edge continues.
The Reign of King George IV (1820-1830)
House of Hanover
Born: 12 August 1762
Accession: 29 January 1820
Married: Caroline of Brunswick 8 April 1795
later separated and banned from attending the Coronation
Coronation: Thursday, 19 July 1821
Child: one daughter Charlotte
who predeceased her Father 6 November 1817
Died: 26 June 1830, aged 67
Estimate: £12,000-15,000
ex Randy Weir Numismatics, Unionville, Ontario, Canada, purchased c.1998
Calendar year mintage 386,182
The 1828 Sovereign is considered the key date for the reign of George IV and is one of the hardest to find in the London series issued by the Royal Mint. Only the 1819 Sovereign of George III is rarer (the Bentley specimen of the 1819 will be offered in part three next year).
The reason why the 1828 Sovereign is so rare is not widely known and it came down to economics at the Royal Mint. To make a new dated die is an intensive and laborious process, in both time and cost, and considering the average longevity of a die, the Mint considered itself very lucky at the dawn of 1828 when it found a number of 1827 obverse dies were still in perfectly good working order. Therefore, rather than make new dies for 1828 immediately, it was decided to wait until the supply of 1827 dated dies dwindled. This did not finally occur until November of 1828 as it seems there was only a low demand for gold sovereigns this year. It was only in December that 1828 Sovereigns started to be minted and this probably did not last long into 1829, therefore the actual number made dated 1828 can be considered to be a fraction of the calendar year mintage quoted above, perhaps a mere twelfth as an educated estimate. It is surprising that the 1827 dies were not simply overstruck to convert them to display 1828, but it seems that overstamping dates was not common practice until the reign of Queen Victoria. Overdates during this period are few and far between in all denominations.
Second Type
William Wyon
Jean Baptiste Merlen
The second standard design for the currency Sovereigns of King George IV from 1825-1830 inclusive had an obverse designed by William Wyon based upon the sculpted model bust by Francis Legatt Chantrey (1781-1841). A marble bust that the King was particularly pleased with, and which was first used as an inspirational model for the coinage on the gold Two Pound piece of 1823 engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen shown here.
The Second Type Obverse and Reverse of King George IV
The former abbreviated legend used on the first type obverse, now appears across both sides of the second type coins and in a fuller form, on obverse GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA and continuing on the reverse BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF: The lettering no longer has any decorative compartments. The reverse of the Sovereigns of this type, also engraved by Merlen, have a crowned quartered shield of arms, with an escutcheon of the Hanoverian Arms. It has been noted in the Bentley Collection catalogue for the first time that the semee of hearts in these Hanoverian Arms generally contains eight hearts. However it has been noted the 1825 plain edge proof only has seven, meaning it was an earlier pattern rendering of the reverse. Otherwise the reverse always depicts nine strings in the Irish harp, and some inner upper lis of the Scottish arms are detached from their frame. The straight grained milled edge continues.
The Reign of King George IV (1820-1830)
House of Hanover
Born: 12 August 1762
Accession: 29 January 1820
Married: Caroline of Brunswick 8 April 1795
later separated and banned from attending the Coronation
Coronation: Thursday, 19 July 1821
Child: one daughter Charlotte
who predeceased her Father 6 November 1817
Died: 26 June 1830, aged 67
Estimate: £12,000-15,000