id:			144534
accession number:	1969.212
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.212
updated:		2023-03-11 20:50:49.190000

Sovereign: George III (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse), 1817. Design by after Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855). Gold; diameter: 2.2 cm (7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection 1969.212

title:				Sovereign: George III (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1817
creation date earliest:		1817
creation date latest:		1817
current location:		
creditline:			The Norweb Collection
copyright:			

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culture:	England, George III, 1760-1820
technique:	gold
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Numismatics
type:		Coins
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855)  - designed by

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measurements: Diameter: 2.2 cm (7/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	GEORGIUS III D.G. BRITANNIAR. REX F.D.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	HONI ∙ SOIT ∙ QUI ∙ MAL ∙ Y ∙ PENSE
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1969
	opening date:   1970-01-27T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1969</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>English Gold Coins: Ancient to Modern Times</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1963).

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PROVENANCE

	Mrs. Emery May Holden Norweb (1895-1984), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -1969
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1969-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
Benedetto Pistrucci's portrait of the king is a caricature.

digital description:


wall description:
Great changes had occurred since King George III's previous coinage. The Royal Mint had moved out of the Tower of London to new premises in Little Tower Hill. The new mint was fitted with the latest steam-driven machinery by Boulton and Watt, and the whole coinage had been reformed. The guinea of twenty-one shillings was replaced by the sovereign, the pound unit piece, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, and went into circulation in 1817. The new Royal Mint was placed under the Mastership of William Wellesley Pole, later Lord Maryborough and finally the third Earl of Mornington, an elder brother of the famous Duke of Wellington. Pole was so impressed by a cameo of Saint George and the dragon, cut by Pistrucci, that he invited the artist to England and set him to design the new coinage. For legal reasons Pistrucci could not be appointed chief engraver, which started a quarrel between the artist and the government that lasted nearly 40 years until the Pistrucci's death in 1855. Working with, and often against, various members of the family who held a succession of engraving appointments at the Royal Mint, Pistrucci produced the new coinage of the reign of George III. His magnificent Saint George, seen to its best on this very rare piece, continued to be used from time to time. It is still the reverse type of the British sovereign.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb<em>. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection.</em> [Catalog. 1968.
	page number: 	p. 69
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.212/1969.212_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.212/1969.212_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.212/1969.212_full.tif