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1 Pound - Charles III Una and The Lion
| Issuer | East India Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Uncrowned effigy of King Charles III in right-facing left-profile bust, rendered in high relief after the portrait by engraver Glyn Davies, whose initials 'GD' appear at the truncation. The legend CHARLES III · D · G · REX · F · D · ST. HELENA curves around the periphery, separated by raised dots, within an ornate beaded and scroll border. The denomination 1 POUND is inscribed across the lower field beneath the portrait. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
The "Una and the Lion" design has one of the more unusual origin stories in British numismatics. William Wyon's original 1839 pattern sovereign — never adopted for circulation — depicted the young Victoria as Una from Spenser's Faerie Queene, guided by a lion representing British power. It was struck purely as a showpiece and promptly shelved. The composition has since been revived repeatedly as a prestige issue, most recently reinterpreted here under the East India Company's modern licensing operation, which holds no historical continuity with the colonial trading body dissolved in 1874.