Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Great Britain
George III copper "Hercules" pattern Crown 1820, by Droz after Monneron's French pattern (of 1792) by Dupré, ESC-244 (R2), L&S-212, plain edge, PR67 PCGS, nothing less than a splendid specimen, graded a point higher than the best one we have previously auctioned (PR66 NGC), crisp in every detail of its design, with a rich deep brown color and fully reflective fields having perfect orange-peel texture. Formerly considered to be a medal, this curious and very distinctive issue has long been collected as a pattern for a crown. The fabulous engraving of the obverse presents to the eye a muscular figure of the god Hercules seated against a broken column, working at breaking or stretching a bundle of sticks over his knee, with a club below, and before him a sea bristling with ships, the date boldly placed below in the exergue with a garland supporting it. The reverse features the royal crest, crowned, surrounded by large letters that are a motto used often as an edge device against counterfeiting. The date is important and can argue for this being an issue of either King George III or George IV, as the monarchy changed in January of this year upon the demise of George III. Common sense would suggest that this was a pattern made for George IV but it has traditionally been catalogued under George III. The wonderfully expressive design was inspired by a smaller sized pattern made in France circa 1791-92 by the firm of Monneron Freres but never coined commercially as it was proscribed by French law of 1793 prohibiting the use of privately created patterns for money. Jean-Pierre Droz, a Swiss engraver of dies for coins and of plates for paper currency, copied the concept of the originals by Augustin Dupré and engraved the set of dies used to strike this pattern for Boulton and Watt at the Soho Mint, Birmingham, where this was made. The imagery captures the famous god of strength as an enduring symbol of rebellion against human bondage, and it perfectly expresses the spirit of its age. We have never seen a finer specimen.
Estimate: 5000-6000 USD
George III copper "Hercules" pattern Crown 1820, by Droz after Monneron's French pattern (of 1792) by Dupré, ESC-244 (R2), L&S-212, plain edge, PR67 PCGS, nothing less than a splendid specimen, graded a point higher than the best one we have previously auctioned (PR66 NGC), crisp in every detail of its design, with a rich deep brown color and fully reflective fields having perfect orange-peel texture. Formerly considered to be a medal, this curious and very distinctive issue has long been collected as a pattern for a crown. The fabulous engraving of the obverse presents to the eye a muscular figure of the god Hercules seated against a broken column, working at breaking or stretching a bundle of sticks over his knee, with a club below, and before him a sea bristling with ships, the date boldly placed below in the exergue with a garland supporting it. The reverse features the royal crest, crowned, surrounded by large letters that are a motto used often as an edge device against counterfeiting. The date is important and can argue for this being an issue of either King George III or George IV, as the monarchy changed in January of this year upon the demise of George III. Common sense would suggest that this was a pattern made for George IV but it has traditionally been catalogued under George III. The wonderfully expressive design was inspired by a smaller sized pattern made in France circa 1791-92 by the firm of Monneron Freres but never coined commercially as it was proscribed by French law of 1793 prohibiting the use of privately created patterns for money. Jean-Pierre Droz, a Swiss engraver of dies for coins and of plates for paper currency, copied the concept of the originals by Augustin Dupré and engraved the set of dies used to strike this pattern for Boulton and Watt at the Soho Mint, Birmingham, where this was made. The imagery captures the famous god of strength as an enduring symbol of rebellion against human bondage, and it perfectly expresses the spirit of its age. We have never seen a finer specimen.
Estimate: 5000-6000 USD