Two Pound Piece: George IV (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse), 1823. After Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784-1855), after a design by Francis Legatt Chantrey (British, 1781-1841), Jean Baptiste Merlen (French, 1769-1850). Gold; diameter: 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.). During the reign of King George IV, two-pound pieces were struck for circulation in 1823 only. Pattern pieces appeared in 1824, 1825, and 1826. The king was so disgusted with the caricature of a portrait that Pistrucci placed on the first coins of the reign that the artist was ordered to model a new obverse from a bust by the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841). Pistrucci refused; it was beneath his dignity to copy the work of another artist. The work was therefore carried out by J. B. Merlen, assistant engraver at the Royal Mint.