Sovereign Rarities Ltd
Auction 4 21 Sep 2021
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George III (1760-1820), gold Pattern Two Pounds, 1820, laureate head right by Benedetto Pistrucci, date below, legend and toothed border surrounding, GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIARUM REX F: D:, rev. inverted die axis, St. George and dragon right, initials W.W.P. raised on ground below broken lance for Mint Master William Wellesley Pole, B.P. to upper right of exergue, edge inscribed in raised letters, DECUS ET TUTAMEN* ANNO REGNI LX*, 15.98g (Hawkins 134; WR 179 R3; Hill T1; S.3784). Scattered bagmarks and light scratches both sides, pushed-out edge knock at 7 o'clock on obverse, extremely fine, very rare, one of only sixty struck.
With only sixty pieces struck, the 1820 gold Pattern Two Pounds is one of the hardest years of this denomination for collectors to obtain. Produced under the Master of the Mint William Wellesley Pole - brother of the Duke of Wellington – in a last swansong coin for the reign of King George III, this type is highly coveted as a magnificent example of the work of Benedetto Pistrucci. A gold Five Pounds and Two Pounds had been in gestation since 1816 when ideas for the new "recoinage" which reintroduced the Sovereign as a denomination were coming to fruition. However, it was not till 1819-20 that the physical manifestation of the gold Five Pounds and Two Pounds came to exist. Edward Hawkins writing in his article "Gold Coins of England" in volume 13 of the Numismatic Chronicle 1850-51, page 170 talks of the workers at the Mint preparing the gold patterns of the Five Pound and Two Pound piece, and working through the night when the death of George III was expected hourly. The coins were finished literally as the King passed away on 29th January 1820 and only 25 pieces of each had been officially ordered. However, by some misunderstanding, 60 examples of the gold Two Pounds were physically struck, perhaps because it became readily apparent that the King had passed away, and that such pieces would become treasured mementos in memory of his long reign.
(£22,500-£25,000)
With only sixty pieces struck, the 1820 gold Pattern Two Pounds is one of the hardest years of this denomination for collectors to obtain. Produced under the Master of the Mint William Wellesley Pole - brother of the Duke of Wellington – in a last swansong coin for the reign of King George III, this type is highly coveted as a magnificent example of the work of Benedetto Pistrucci. A gold Five Pounds and Two Pounds had been in gestation since 1816 when ideas for the new "recoinage" which reintroduced the Sovereign as a denomination were coming to fruition. However, it was not till 1819-20 that the physical manifestation of the gold Five Pounds and Two Pounds came to exist. Edward Hawkins writing in his article "Gold Coins of England" in volume 13 of the Numismatic Chronicle 1850-51, page 170 talks of the workers at the Mint preparing the gold patterns of the Five Pound and Two Pound piece, and working through the night when the death of George III was expected hourly. The coins were finished literally as the King passed away on 29th January 1820 and only 25 pieces of each had been officially ordered. However, by some misunderstanding, 60 examples of the gold Two Pounds were physically struck, perhaps because it became readily apparent that the King had passed away, and that such pieces would become treasured mementos in memory of his long reign.
(£22,500-£25,000)