Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Crown - George III Pattern
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1817 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Bare-headed and laureate effigy of King George III facing right, rendered in high relief with finely detailed flowing hair bound by an olive wreath tied with a ribbon at the nape. The truncation of the neck is smooth and unadorned. The encircling legend reads GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REX F: D:, interrupted at the base by the date 1817 placed in the exergual area below the portrait. The overall style reflects the neoclassical aesthetic characteristic of Benedetto Pistrucci's early work at the Royal Mint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REX F: D: 1817 (Translation: George the Third by the Grace of God King of the Britains Defender of the Faith) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This is one of several pattern crowns produced in 1817 as the Royal Mint worked toward the Great Recoinage — the sweeping currency reform that withdrew the worn, clipped, and frequently counterfeited hammered and milled coinage that had plagued British commerce for decades. Benedetto Pistrucci had recently arrived in London and was competing for royal favor; the crown patterns of this year represent the experimental stage before his designs were locked in for the standard milled coinage.
At 36g, this pattern runs heavier than the circulation crown that followed. The weight discrepancy almost certainly reflects early indecision about the target specification before Parliament fixed the standard.