Lot 1144
Great Britain. Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, LX. W&R-178 (R5); L&S-209; S.3783. 39.88g. Plain edge with bevelled rims. By Benedetto Pistrucci. George III, 1760-1820. Obv. Large laureate head right, pistrucci weakly struck below, GEORGIUS III D:G: - BRITANNIAR: REX F:D: 1820, finely toothed border both sides. Reverse; Struck en medaille, St. George and the dragon, pistrucci in exergue, w.w.p. above broken lance on ground line. Exceedingly Rare, only two specimens struck. Pop 1; The only Example graded at PCGS. PCGS graded Proof 61 Cameo. Estimated Value $150,000 - UP
The late-reign patterns of £5 and £2 value (five sovereigns and two sovereigns in value respectively) dated 1820 are among the most desirable of all 19th-century patterns. The elderly king is portrayed by the engraver Pistrucci as a Roman-style emperor in all his glory, despite the reality of his condition. This image has been called a memorial to the king in the 60th year of his reign and a celebration of the New Coinage of 1816-1820. The same design with slight modifications was used for both patterns. Very few pieces have plain edges; most have lettered edges-the legend noted on each. Neither denomination was ever intended to be issued as a circulating coin-each size replaced in usefulness by paper currency more than half a century earlier. Quite a few splendid patterns struck in gold were created during this reign but these must be considered to be among the very finest. Engraving them had been authorized in the summer of 1816 but the dies were not completed until almost the exact moment of George III's death. Each version is truly rare: some 25 with lettered edges were made of the larger denomination £5, and 60 of the £2 size. All pieces were distributed at the time to officials at the mint, national museums and prominent collectors. Their enduring appeal is the artistic purity of the designs-bold, crisp and free of cluttered legends. Their beauty is spectacular and their appeal to the world's collectors never-ending.
Ex J G Murdoch, Sotheby, 15 March 1904, lot 175; Mortimer Hammell, Stacks, New York, 15 September 1982, lot 356; H Selig, Part 2, Spink Coin Auction 131, 2nd March 1999, lot 1159; Spink, London, May 5, 2005, lot 194.
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| Realized $336,000 |
