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Two Pound Piece: George IV (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
During the reign of King George IV, two-pound pieces were struck for circulation in 1823 only. Pattern pieces appeared in 1824, 1825, and 1826. The king was so disgusted with the caricature of a portrait that Pistrucci placed on the first coins of the reign that the artist was ordered to model a new obverse from a bust by the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey (1781–1841). Pistrucci refused; it was beneath his dignity to copy the work of another artist. The work was therefore carried out by J. B. Merlen, assistant engraver at the Royal Mint.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTwo Pound Piece: George IV (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse), 1823. After Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855), after a design by Francis Legatt Chantrey (British, 1781–1841), Jean Baptiste Merlen (French, 1769–1850). Gold; diameter: 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1969.214
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