Rare £5 gold coin from reign of King George III expected to fetch £250,000 at auction
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Just 25 of the sovereigns were made as the elderly monarch lay dying in 1820 after reigning for six decades — and one is going under the hammer in London next week.
Heads: The incredibly rare £5 coin features a bust of King George III
An incredibly rare £5 coin struck 200 years ago to commemorate King George III's 60 years on the throne is set to sell for £250,000 — 50,000 times its face value.
Just 25 of the gold coins were made as the elderly George III lay dying in 1820 after reigning for six decades.
The sovereign coin, the last to feature the monarch’s head, had been planned by the Royal Mint to be a celebration of the King’s rule.
But he died before prototypes of the proposed coin could be completed and so it could not be put into circulation.
Instead a handful were struck effectively as posthumous commemorative pieces.
Tails: The flip side of the coin features St George slaying the dragon
Six went to institutions like the Royal Mint, the Bank of England and the British Museum, while eight were handed to Royal Mint officials.
The remainder were acquired by influential figures such as the Marquis of Salisbury and contemporary coin collectors such as the south London brewer Robert Barclay and the museum curator Edward Hawkins.
The 1820 Pattern Five Pounds, featuring the bust of George III on one side and St George slaying a dragon on the other, is now among the rarest and most sought-after British coins.
History man: King George III ruled until 1820
This example, being sold by an unnamed lady owner, is tipped to fetch a staggering £250,000 when it goes under the hammer at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb.
Christopher Webb, head of the salerooms’ coins department, said: “This coin is something very special. It is a wonderful example of the coin engraver’s art.
“But it also marks the end of the reign of George III which had seen the loss of the American colonies, the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon and the birth of the Industrial Revolution. Here beauty combines with history.”
The auction will be held on September 16.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rare-5-gold-coin-reign-6414932
Heads: The incredibly rare £5 coin features a bust of King George III
An incredibly rare £5 coin struck 200 years ago to commemorate King George III's 60 years on the throne is set to sell for £250,000 — 50,000 times its face value.
Just 25 of the gold coins were made as the elderly George III lay dying in 1820 after reigning for six decades.
The sovereign coin, the last to feature the monarch’s head, had been planned by the Royal Mint to be a celebration of the King’s rule.
But he died before prototypes of the proposed coin could be completed and so it could not be put into circulation.
Instead a handful were struck effectively as posthumous commemorative pieces.
Tails: The flip side of the coin features St George slaying the dragon
Six went to institutions like the Royal Mint, the Bank of England and the British Museum, while eight were handed to Royal Mint officials.
The remainder were acquired by influential figures such as the Marquis of Salisbury and contemporary coin collectors such as the south London brewer Robert Barclay and the museum curator Edward Hawkins.
The 1820 Pattern Five Pounds, featuring the bust of George III on one side and St George slaying a dragon on the other, is now among the rarest and most sought-after British coins.
History man: King George III ruled until 1820
This example, being sold by an unnamed lady owner, is tipped to fetch a staggering £250,000 when it goes under the hammer at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb.
Christopher Webb, head of the salerooms’ coins department, said: “This coin is something very special. It is a wonderful example of the coin engraver’s art.
“But it also marks the end of the reign of George III which had seen the loss of the American colonies, the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon and the birth of the Industrial Revolution. Here beauty combines with history.”
The auction will be held on September 16.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rare-5-gold-coin-reign-6414932
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