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Auction archive: Lot number 840

Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, by B

Estimate
£200,000 - £250,000
ca. US$306,899 - US$383,624
Price realised:
£200,000
ca. US$306,899
Auction archive: Lot number 840

Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, by B

Estimate
£200,000 - £250,000
ca. US$306,899 - US$383,624
Price realised:
£200,000
ca. US$306,899
Beschreibung:

Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, by B. Pistrucci, in gold, laureate bust right, pistrucci below truncation, rev. St George and dragon, wwp on ground, edge lx, 39.87g/6h (WR 177; L & S 207; Montagu 556; Murdoch 176; Douglas-Morris 145; Selig 1158; S 3783). Area of red toning in centre of obverse, has been lightly rubbed and a small surface flaw between 8 and 2 of date, otherwise brilliant, extremely rare £200,000-250,000 Footnote Provenance: The Property of a Lady, acquired prior to 1992. The pattern five-sovereign and two-sovereign pieces of 1820, to give them their contemporary nomenclature, may perhaps be viewed as the culmination of the relationship between William Wellesley Pole (1763-1845), the Master of the Mint between September 1814 and August 1823, and Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), his leading engraver, who came to England in January 1815. Their origin lies in the coins being authorised by an Order in Council dated August 1816; the first new sovereigns of 1817, which debuted in July of that year, and the crowns of 1818, introduced Pistrucci’s St George and dragon design, originally intended for a gem to be engraved for Lord Spencer, to a wider public. It was Sir Joseph Banks who recommended to Pole that the design be adopted for coinage. Following the death of the chief engraver, Thomas Wyon Jr, after a length illness on 22 September 1817, Pole engaged Pistrucci; the Italian, being a foreigner, was disbarred from appointment to the office of chief engraver, but Pole left the office nominally vacant, paid him £500 p.a. and gave him the use of the chief engraver’s official residence within the Mint. Such an arrangement was resented by Thomas Wyon Jr’s cousin, William, appointed second engraver in October 1815, who designed the famous ‘Three Graces’ and ‘Incorrupta’ crowns of 1817; William’s first regular coinage design was the reverse of the new half-sovereign, the first specimens of which were struck in September 1817. Despite the Order in Council quoted above, no large gold coins had been issued for circulation in England since 1754. Pattern five- and two-guineas had appeared sporadically in the early years of George III’s reign but the need for large-denomination specie had been negated by paper money. Perhaps realising the fast decline in the monarch’s health in December 1819, Pole instructed Pistrucci to prepare dies for five- and two-sovereign pieces and Edward Hawkins, who himself was no fan of Pistrucci or his work, writing in 1850, dramatised the scene when he wrote that “the dies were scarcely finished when the decease of the king was hourly expected; and though the workmen were employed in striking them throughout the night, we believe that all the five and two-sovereign pieces were not actually completed during the reign of king George III.” The reality of the situation, explained by William Hocking and expanded on by later students, that “the dies were not completed at the demise of George III [and] specimens were subsequently struck”, meant that the coins have acquired something of a commemorative status, posthumous pieces de plaisir if you will, George himself having expired at Windsor at 8.38pm on 29 January 1820. In saying that 25 pieces only were struck, Hawkins quotes the names of the recipients from a tally of 26 names supplied by the Mint. Six specimens were acquired by institutions (Royal Mint, Bank of England, British Museum, Glasgow University, Dublin College and the Bodleian Library). Eight specimens were given to Mint officials, namely Jasper Atkinson (1790-1856), Provost; Henry Bingley (1801-84), Assay Master; Robert Bingley (1766-1847), Assay Master and father of Henry; Henry Field (1803-88), assayer; Robert Finch, moneyer and gentleman, Dollis Hill; James Morrison (1774-1856), Deputy Master; Robert Mushet (1782-1828), Master’s First Clerk and Melter; and William Wyon (1795-1851), Second Engraver. The remaining 12 specimens were acquired by other influential individuals, namely the Marquis of Sa

Auction archive: Lot number 840
Auction:
Datum:
15 Sep 2015 - 18 Sep 2015
Auction house:
Dix Noonan Webb
16 Bolton St, Mayfair
London, W1J 8BQ
United Kingdom
auctions@dnw.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7016 1700
+44 (0)20 7016 1799
Beschreibung:

Pattern Five Pounds, 1820, by B. Pistrucci, in gold, laureate bust right, pistrucci below truncation, rev. St George and dragon, wwp on ground, edge lx, 39.87g/6h (WR 177; L & S 207; Montagu 556; Murdoch 176; Douglas-Morris 145; Selig 1158; S 3783). Area of red toning in centre of obverse, has been lightly rubbed and a small surface flaw between 8 and 2 of date, otherwise brilliant, extremely rare £200,000-250,000 Footnote Provenance: The Property of a Lady, acquired prior to 1992. The pattern five-sovereign and two-sovereign pieces of 1820, to give them their contemporary nomenclature, may perhaps be viewed as the culmination of the relationship between William Wellesley Pole (1763-1845), the Master of the Mint between September 1814 and August 1823, and Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), his leading engraver, who came to England in January 1815. Their origin lies in the coins being authorised by an Order in Council dated August 1816; the first new sovereigns of 1817, which debuted in July of that year, and the crowns of 1818, introduced Pistrucci’s St George and dragon design, originally intended for a gem to be engraved for Lord Spencer, to a wider public. It was Sir Joseph Banks who recommended to Pole that the design be adopted for coinage. Following the death of the chief engraver, Thomas Wyon Jr, after a length illness on 22 September 1817, Pole engaged Pistrucci; the Italian, being a foreigner, was disbarred from appointment to the office of chief engraver, but Pole left the office nominally vacant, paid him £500 p.a. and gave him the use of the chief engraver’s official residence within the Mint. Such an arrangement was resented by Thomas Wyon Jr’s cousin, William, appointed second engraver in October 1815, who designed the famous ‘Three Graces’ and ‘Incorrupta’ crowns of 1817; William’s first regular coinage design was the reverse of the new half-sovereign, the first specimens of which were struck in September 1817. Despite the Order in Council quoted above, no large gold coins had been issued for circulation in England since 1754. Pattern five- and two-guineas had appeared sporadically in the early years of George III’s reign but the need for large-denomination specie had been negated by paper money. Perhaps realising the fast decline in the monarch’s health in December 1819, Pole instructed Pistrucci to prepare dies for five- and two-sovereign pieces and Edward Hawkins, who himself was no fan of Pistrucci or his work, writing in 1850, dramatised the scene when he wrote that “the dies were scarcely finished when the decease of the king was hourly expected; and though the workmen were employed in striking them throughout the night, we believe that all the five and two-sovereign pieces were not actually completed during the reign of king George III.” The reality of the situation, explained by William Hocking and expanded on by later students, that “the dies were not completed at the demise of George III [and] specimens were subsequently struck”, meant that the coins have acquired something of a commemorative status, posthumous pieces de plaisir if you will, George himself having expired at Windsor at 8.38pm on 29 January 1820. In saying that 25 pieces only were struck, Hawkins quotes the names of the recipients from a tally of 26 names supplied by the Mint. Six specimens were acquired by institutions (Royal Mint, Bank of England, British Museum, Glasgow University, Dublin College and the Bodleian Library). Eight specimens were given to Mint officials, namely Jasper Atkinson (1790-1856), Provost; Henry Bingley (1801-84), Assay Master; Robert Bingley (1766-1847), Assay Master and father of Henry; Henry Field (1803-88), assayer; Robert Finch, moneyer and gentleman, Dollis Hill; James Morrison (1774-1856), Deputy Master; Robert Mushet (1782-1828), Master’s First Clerk and Melter; and William Wyon (1795-1851), Second Engraver. The remaining 12 specimens were acquired by other influential individuals, namely the Marquis of Sa

Auction archive: Lot number 840
Auction:
Datum:
15 Sep 2015 - 18 Sep 2015
Auction house:
Dix Noonan Webb
16 Bolton St, Mayfair
London, W1J 8BQ
United Kingdom
auctions@dnw.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7016 1700
+44 (0)20 7016 1799
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