1 Crown United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922) S ...

1821, Great Britain, George IV. Large Silver Crown Coin. +

Mint Place: London
Denomination: Crown
Engraver: Benedetto Pistrucci
Mint Year: 1821 (2nd Regnal year)
Mint Official: William Wellesley Pole
Reference: Davenport 104, S. 3805, KM-680.1. R!

Material: Sterling Silver
Weight: 27.85gm
Diameter: 38mm

Obverse: Laureate bust of George IV left.
Legend: GEORGIUS IIII D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F:D:

Reverse: St. George, wearing Attic helmet, right on horse, holding sword in preparation to dispatch prostrate and wounded Dragon below.
Comment: Broken shaft of lance to left on ground, engraver´s initials (B.P.) below ground to right. Date below.
Legend: 1821

Benedetto Pistrucci (May 29, 1783 – September 16, 1855) was a talented engraver of gemstones, cameos, coins and medals. Born in Italy, he moved to London in 1815 and was employed at the Royal Mint as an engraver, where his most famous work is his portrayal of St. George & the Dragon used on British gold sovereigns and crowns first created during the Great Recoinage of 1816. He also engraved the dies for many other coins, medals, and medallions, including the Waterloo Medal, which took him over thirty years to complete. He refused to copy the work of any other artist or engraver, and insisted that all his work was his own original work. Because of his Italian origin, he was not officially recognised as the chief engraver at the Royal Mint, and there were rivalries with other engravers including the Wyon family.

George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his father’s relapse into insanity from an illness that is now suspected to have been porphyria.

George IV is remembered largely for his extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the British Regency. By 1797 his weight had reached 17 stone 7 pounds (111 kg or 245 lb), and by 1824 his corset was made for a waist of 50 inches (127 cm). He was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace, and Sir Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. He was largely instrumental in the foundation of the National Gallery, London and King’s College London.

He had a poor relationship with both his father and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, whom he even forbade to attend his coronation. For most of George’s regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister. Though George IV played little part in the Napoleonic Wars, he did interfere in politics. He resisted Catholic emancipation, and introduced the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill to Parliament in a desperate, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt, to divorce his wife.