{
"data": {
"id": 144549,
"accession_number": "1969.217",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); Una (reverse), 1839. Design by William Wyon (British, 1795\u20131851). Gold; diameter: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1969.217",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); Una (reverse)",
"creation_date": "1839",
"creation_date_earliest": 1839,
"creation_date_latest": 1839,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"England, Victoria, 1837-1901"
],
"technique": "gold",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Medieval Art",
"collection": "MED - Numismatics",
"type": "Coins",
"measurements": "Diameter: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"diameter": {
"height": 0.037
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIARUM REGINA F: D:",
"inscription_translation": "Victoria, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith",
"inscription_remark": "obverse",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS; MDCCCXXXIX; W. WYON R.A.",
"inscription_translation": "May the Lord direct my steps; 1839",
"inscription_remark": "reverse",
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 301313,
"title": "Year in Review: 1969",
"description": "Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).",
"opening_date": "1970-01-27T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "English Gold Coins: Ancient to Modern Times. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1963).",
"opening_date": "1963-01-01T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Mrs. Emery May Holden Norweb (1895-1984), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1969-",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "This five-pound piece was never for circulation but instead for presentation and collectors.",
"description": "This piece was struck by the Royal Mint from gold purchased for the purpose. The current gold coins, such as the sovereign, were struck from gold supplied by the Bank of England. The larger gold pieces have their origins in the five and two guinea pieces. There are several minor varieties of this fine and rare piece, designed by William Wyon, R.A., a member of the celebrated family, still in existence, that had such a long and profound influence on British coin design. By some, this piece was considered to be too medallic for coinage purposes. Queen Victoria, at this date a young woman of 20, is shown as Una, Truth, because truth is one: one of the principal characters in Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590\u20131611). She is leading the lion referred to in her adventures in Spenser's work. It is often also referred to as the British lion. This coin is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful in the English series, and the standard of workmanship and striking has never been improved upon.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79921896"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1969.217-five-pound-piece-vic"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968.]",
"page_number": "p. 74",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.217",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
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"alternate_images": [
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"date_created": "2009-12-09T03:40:54",
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],
"creditline": "The Norweb Collection",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 144549,
"creators": [
{
"id": 10372,
"description": "William Wyon (British, 1795\u20131851)",
"extent": "design by",
"qualifier": null,
"role": "designed by",
"biography": null,
"name_in_original_language": null,
"birth_year": "1795",
"death_year": "1851",
"use_in_caption": true,
"include_extent": true,
"weight": 1
}
],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1969-12-13T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1839,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1839",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "cover",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-03-27 00:02:35.518000"
}
}