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Auction: 5028 - The Samuel King Collection of Highly Important British Gold Coins
Lot: 193

gGeorge III, Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, lx, 39.85g., by Benedetto Pistrucci, large laureate head right, pistrucci below, georgius iii d:g: britanniar: rex f:d: 1820, finely toothed border both sides, rev. inverted die axis, St.George and the dragon, pistrucci in exergue, w.w.p. above broken lance on groundline, edge upright lettering decus et tutamen* anno regni lx*, rosette stops, (W&R.177 R4; L&S 207; S.3783), ink marks on truncation, lightly hairlined both sides, otherwise practically as struck, extremely rare, only 25 specimens struck Estimate £ 35,000-40,000 Strauss Collection, Sotheby, 26 May 1994, lot 230Benedetto Pistrucci (1784-1855) had made a name for himself as a gem engraver in Europe before his skills were sought by the Mint in England. As a foreigner he was barred from an official office, however, the then Master of the Mint, William Wellesley Pole, brother of the Duke of Wellington, ensured a ready supply of commissions. The Pattern Five Pound piece of 1820 of which only 25 were struck can perhaps be viewed as the culmination of the fruitful relationship between Pole and the Mint and Pistrucci as engraver. Perhaps to appease Pistrucci´s lack of official recognition he was the first engraver to have his surname spelt out in full on both silver and gold denominations; the silver Crowns of 1818-20 and this gold Five Pounds, which constitute arguably his finest work. It was upon the king´s demise on 29th January 1820 that the possibility of further issues came to an end leaving us the legacy of this short lived coinage.

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£58,000