Description
George IV of the House of Hanover, King of the United Kingdom 1820-1830 AD, Gold Sovereign (7.98g, 22mm), 1821. Obverse: Laureate Head of King George IV facing to the left, engraver’s initials “B.P.” (Benedetto Pistrucci) below truncation, legend surrounds, “GEORGIUS IIII D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F:D:”. Reverse: Saint George, wielding sword and wearing plumed helmet and billowing cloak, mounted atop his horse which rears right above a fallen dragon, his broken lance remains half embedded and the shaft rests to the left on the exergual ground-line above mint master’s initials ‘wwp’ (William Wellesley Pole), Engraver’s initials ‘B.P’ (Benedetto Pistrucci) and date in exergue. Marsh-5; Bentley-12; Spink-3800; KM-682. Calendar year mintage 9,405,114. Despite typical contact marks, as is often the case for the 1821 sovereign, and minor rim nicks, this piece offers a very bold reverse and, for the grade, quite an attractive portrait, good Very Fine, reverse near Extremely Fine.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Geōrgius Quartum, Deī Grātiā, Britanniārum Rēx, Fideī Dēfēnsor”, with an English translation of “George the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of the British People, Defender of the Faith”.
