Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 27 13 Jan 2019
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British Coins, George V, pattern crown in silver, undated (1910) by A. G. Wyon, milled edge, bare head l., rev. Art Deco styled image of St. George on a cloaked stallion, piercing a dragon below with a long lance (L&S.3, 10 struck; ESC.384 [R5]; Bull 3660 [R5]), certified and graded by NGC as Proof 65, rich dark golden grey toning, extremely rare
One of the uncelebrated stars of the Wyon family of engravers was the inventive Alan Wyon, who signed this significant crown pattern A.G. WYON in incuse letters on the king's truncation of the obverse, and simply as A.G.W. (also incuse) on the reverse just beneath the horse's hoof. Linecar & Stone described the reverse design of this piece as a 'spirited depiction of St. George slaying the dragon' and recorded the mintage as just 10 pieces each with reeded and plain edges, in silver, plus even fewer pieces (mintages unknown) in gold and copper, the latter with a silver plating. After these were struck, a small number of patterns were made having a similar style but the date 1910 added to the exergue of the reverse, which required a slight change to the positioning of the dragon as well as moving the A.G.W. signature further to the right along the rim. The rarities of the restyled crown's varieties are similar, with another 10 each struck in silver with the two edge styles. A few additional metallic varieties were made of this latter type, as detailed in Linecar & Stone. In all, only a few dozen examples exist of Alan Wyon's masterful crown for what was the then new king, George V. Wyon was seemingly ahead of his time by a few years, for technically the Art Deco era began with an exhibition in Paris in 1925, but the artistic sense had been established by then by a small number of artists, of whom Alan Wyon was one. His crisply engraved bust of the king has been praised, by Forrer among others, and his modernistic rendering of the splendid image of good (the honourable knight) overpowering evil (the devil incarnate in the horrific dragon) has become a classic among patterns of the early 20th century.
($50000-60000)
One of the uncelebrated stars of the Wyon family of engravers was the inventive Alan Wyon, who signed this significant crown pattern A.G. WYON in incuse letters on the king's truncation of the obverse, and simply as A.G.W. (also incuse) on the reverse just beneath the horse's hoof. Linecar & Stone described the reverse design of this piece as a 'spirited depiction of St. George slaying the dragon' and recorded the mintage as just 10 pieces each with reeded and plain edges, in silver, plus even fewer pieces (mintages unknown) in gold and copper, the latter with a silver plating. After these were struck, a small number of patterns were made having a similar style but the date 1910 added to the exergue of the reverse, which required a slight change to the positioning of the dragon as well as moving the A.G.W. signature further to the right along the rim. The rarities of the restyled crown's varieties are similar, with another 10 each struck in silver with the two edge styles. A few additional metallic varieties were made of this latter type, as detailed in Linecar & Stone. In all, only a few dozen examples exist of Alan Wyon's masterful crown for what was the then new king, George V. Wyon was seemingly ahead of his time by a few years, for technically the Art Deco era began with an exhibition in Paris in 1925, but the artistic sense had been established by then by a small number of artists, of whom Alan Wyon was one. His crisply engraved bust of the king has been praised, by Forrer among others, and his modernistic rendering of the splendid image of good (the honourable knight) overpowering evil (the devil incarnate in the horrific dragon) has become a classic among patterns of the early 20th century.
($50000-60000)