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.). 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
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Image Number: 6145-29066783Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography Limited Contributor:Piemags Model Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:3400×1538
