1817 King George III gold 'full' Sovereign: first year of is...

Hammer

£1,000

1817 King George III gold 'full' Sovereign: first year of issue with Saint George reverse (S 3785, Marsh 1). Obverse: first laureate head of George III with date below, legend around reads: 'GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:'. Reverse: St George and the dragon with broken lance on ground, surrounded by a garter motif which reads 'HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE'. Mintage: 3,235,239. Composition: 9167 gold. Weight: 7.92g. Diameter: 22.05mm.The first modern Sovereign, issued in 1817. Named after an earlier English hammered coin these 7.98 gram 22-carat gold coins were first struck in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Amid the economic instability caused by the conflict, Parliament officially placed Britain on the gold standard with the Privy Council recommending a new issue of gold coins valued at 20 Shillings to replace the Guinea which had fallen out of general circulation.The first of these new gold Sovereigns featured a portrait of the reigning monarch, King George III, and a reverse design inspired by the legend of St George and the dragon. Both motifs were designed by an Italian sculptor named Benedetto Pistrucci.Pistrucci's initial design, shown on this 1817 coin, features a garter motif surrounding the mounted figure of St George who holds a broken spear. Later issues remove the garter and replace the spear with a sword. While the St George design was not used for much of Queen Victoria's reign it has become a perennial presence on the bullion and proof coins issued by The Royal Mint through the 20th century and is instantly recognisable to collectors of British coins.