LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. New York Signature World Coin Auction ...  / 

51301

Great Britain George III pattern £2 1820,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Great Britain George III pattern £2 1820,
<B>George III pattern £2 1820,</B></I> S-3784, WR-179, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci, his initials appearing to the far right in the reverse exergue; raised lettered edge reading "DECUS ET TUTAMEN. ANNO REGNI LX.", the stops being tiny cinquefoils. Rated R3 by Wilson & Rasmussen, or extremely rare. Beautiful proof details, complete to the tiniest design feature, fields somewhat reflective but having small scratches -- this was probably a study piece, examined many times by students of historical money. Catalogues in Spink for £17,500 in FDC. This example is not FDC by any means but nor is it unappealing -- in fact, quite the opposite, it is quite pleasing. We will make our estimate conservative, thinking that this coin should easily exceed it in this intense marketplace for truly rare coins -- few coins of any time or issuer are rarer of more beautifully conceived and designed than this classic, the prototype for later gold coins of this denomination, although none was made during the reign of George III.<BR><BR>As a prototype, this coin is of great importance among the New Coinage issues that commenced near the end of the long life of King George III. All were made on steam-driven coinage presses purchased by the Crown from Boulton and Watt's manufactory at Birmingham, the former Soho Mint, which did much coinage contracting for the Crown and others in the previous century. The machinery was transferred to the new mint building on Tower Hill, just northeast of the Tower of London, literally just outside its high stone walls. This is widely known and has often been mentioned in print. Less frequently noted is the obeisance on the coinage offered to his "boss" at the Royal Mint by the cantankerous Italian engraver of great talent, Pistrucci, who worked grudgingly under anyone, which makes his notation of "WWP" on the ground beneath the broken spear-end, to the left at the exergue on the reverse, all the more remarkable. The initials stood for William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington (a tube station is still named in his honor in Camdentown, London), an aristocratic elder brother of the Duke of Wellington who served in the political office of Master of the Mint from 1814 to 1823, a cabinet office. Near the end of his term at the Mint, he became a member of the House of Lords, and under King William IV he was postmaster-general of Great Britain. Much might be said about Pistrucci's placing of these initials on the new coins (it appears on the silver as well), and here they appear on one of the most important of Pistrucci's engraved specimens.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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