New British Coronation Medal: AR George IV, 1821

[DonnaML]

About 7 or 8 years ago, I sold all but one (George II) of my pre-Victoria British official Coronation Medals, which had dated back to James I. I've been trying very slowly for the past few years to restore at least some of that collection, and this is the first one I've bought since the 1761 Queen Charlotte medal I purchased last August (see https://www.numisforums.com/topic/899-new-british-coronation-medal-queen-charlotte-1761/#comment-15402).

Great Britain, George IV, Official AR Coronation Medal, 1820, by Benedetto Pistrucci. Obv. Laureate bust left, GEORGIUS IIII D.G. BRITANNIARUM REX F.D. / Rev. King enthroned left, crowned by Victory behind him; before him stand Britannia, Hibernia, and Scotia; PROPRIO JAM JURE ANIMO PATERNO around; in exergue, INAUGURATUS DIE. JULII. XIX ANNO. MDCCCXXI. 35 mm., 16.93 g. BHM 1070 (ill. p. 264) [Brown, Laurence, British Historical Medals Vol. I, 1760-1837 (Seaby 1980)]; Eimer 1146a (ill. Pl. 125) [Eimer, C., British Commemorative Medals and their Values (2^nd ed. 2010)]; Wollaston p. 12, no. xv & ill. 24 [Henry Wollaston, British Official Medals for Coronations and Jubilees (1978)]. Mintage in AR: 800 (see Wollaston p. 16). Purchased from Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) Auction 267, 1 Feb. 2023, Lot 788; ex Sir Gerard Clauson Collection of British Historical Medals [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Clauson: “Sir Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson (28 April 1891 – 1 May 1974) was an English civil servant, businessman, and Orientalist best known for his studies of the Turkic languages”].*

(The areas of blue and and other dark coloring turn out to be simply iridescence in hand. Noonans noted the "small dig at top of reverse," which I don't think detracts from the coin all that much, but described the medal as "otherwise extremely fine and toned.")

*See Sir Gerard's biography from Noonans, published in connection with an auction of his ancient coin collection in 2022, at https://issuu.com/noonansauctions/docs/coins_13_oct_22:

Of the official coronation medals I once owned, I'm still missing William IV and Anne in silver (I have them in bronze), James II and Queen Mary (separate medals), Charles II's Scottish Coronation, Charles I (either English or Scottish), and James I. Maybe someday! Nice examples have definitely become more expensive in the last 7-8 years, although prices are still quite a bit lower than one would think they'd be, given the low mintages (under 1,000 for most, and no more than 400 for several). Just to show that I'm not prejudiced in favor of the UK, I also have the bronze and miniature silver versions of Napoleon's coronation medal (see https://www.numisforums.com/topic/403-napoleon-bonaparte-coins-on-the-anniversary-of-waterloo/page/2/#comment-26161 ), and -- from the same general category -- the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Medals of Truman and JFK.

Please post anything you think is relevant.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 5 by DonnaML

[ChrisB]

Very nice. I have a thing for these as well but have been concentrating on other areas. 

[panzerman]

Thanks for informative post/ that is a beautifull design on the Pistrucci George IV Coronation Medal 1820. 

[CPK]

What a beautiful medal!

[Dafydd]

Not a coronation medal but other examples of George IV observes. The first obverse engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci and similar to @DonnaML's coronation example, and the second is the bare head design engraved by William Wyon. I appears to me that Benedetto considered that George IV had put on a little weight since his 1821 design. 

I am very  fortunate to have a chest of sample drawers originally used by William Wyon which was rescued from a "skip" ( dumpster) when the Royal Mint was relocated from London to Llantrisant in South Wales. 

I still seek an 1821 first George IV shilling which I believe has the most attractive design of any shilling.

 

 

[DonnaML]

Most of the AE versions of the official British coronation medals aren't nearly as nice-looking as the AR versions, but in the case of George IV I think the Pistrucci portrait on my bronze example is still quite appealing:

[ChrisB]

Not coronation medals but here are a few of my George IV pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

[DonnaML]

Here's the "virtual tray" I created -- similar to the one I did for my Roman Republican coins -- for all my small-sized official British coronation medals beginning with the Charles II English coronation medal. I've also included the medal Spink issued for Elizabeth II's coronation (for which there was no official medal), as well as the official 1911 Prince of Wales Investiture medal for the future Edward VIII, and the 1935 George V & Queen Mary Silver Jubilee medal.

First row: Charles II AR English Coronation Medal, William & Mary AR Coronation Medal, Anne AE Coronation Medal

Second row: George I AR Coronation Medal, George II AR Coronation Medal, Queen Caroline AR Coronation Medal

Third row: George III AR Coronation Medal, Queen Charlotte AR Coronation Medal, George IV AR Coronation Medal

Fourth row: George IV AE Coronation Medal, William IV & Queen Adelaide AE Coronation Medal, Victoria AR Coronation Medal

Fifth Row: Edward VII & Queen Alexandra AR Coronation Medal, George V & Queen Mary AR Coronation Medal, 1911 Prince of Wales AR Investiture Medal.

Sixth Row: George V & Queen Mary AR Silver Jubilee Medal, George VI & Queen Elizabeth AR Coronation Medal, Elizabeth II Spink (unofficial) gilded AE Coronation Medal (Buckingham Palace on reverse).

 

Edited March 6 by DonnaML