United Kingdom, George IV, 1821 Proof Half-Sovereign Extremely Rare, R3 NGC Proof 63 Ultra Cameo

The Coin

This coin is an extremely rare proof of the iconic engraver Benedetto Pistrucci. The first year of issue for George IV, 1821, saw Pistrucci debut one of his most accomplished and striking designs: the laureate bust of George IV. This intricately precise, yet strong and powerful, bust accompanies a reverse of detail beyond belief.

Moving the coin around under light, a strong cameo springs to life. Deeply reflective, subtly olive fields accent the vibrantly lustrous devices. Frenetic swathes of lustre dance over the fine slopes of the King’s face perfectly accenting and breathing life into the engraving. The hair and wreath, much more intricately cut, explode with a lustre that oozes from each of the seemingly infinite intricacies. The reverse of the coin is equally a masterclass in fine style. A standard motif of British coinage, the Royal coat of arms, has been joyfully reinvented here by Pistrucci. The edges of the shield are alive with rose, shamrock and thistle. Each with an unbelievable realism achieved only with the absolute highest level of skill. So intricate is the design that close examination of each shamrock will reveal a W, another W, and a P: the initials of master of the mint Sir William Wellesley Pole.

Interestingly, a problem arose out of this half-sovereign’s design being near identical to that of the concurrent sixpence. Fraudsters would take the similarly sized and weighted sixpences and gild them to pass off as the far more valuable half-sovereigns. This design was quickly changed in response to this issue, making the design of this coin short-lived and rare thusly.

George IV (1762-1830)

George IV was the personification of the decadent Regency period. Although the technical span of his reign was from 1820 to 1830, he had been in control of the country since early 1811 when his father’s debilitations forced a retirement in all practical senses. George, as Prince Regent, led (or was supposed to lead) the country through the Napoleonic Wars and 1816, and The Year Without a Summer - when one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in 1,300 years plunged half of the world into a false winter with very real consequences. Nothing grew. And as such poverty was rampant. The tastes of the Prince however became more and more repugnant in their resplendence, growing almost as quickly as the public’s resentment of their deluded and gluttonous leader. Civil unrest bubbled and foamed only to be crushed with new, authoritarian laws such as the death penalty for unlicensed public meetings. Parliament agreed to clear the Prince’s debts if he would take a wife; which he did, only to disown and treat her with the cruel and cold brutality he had become so accustomed to.

With his coronation, this story only continued. King George IV fiercely fought parliamentary reform while defending religious intolerance. Towards the end of his life, ashamed of his bloated physical appearance and diminished public appeal, the King eschewed public life and preferred to live his hedonism in private. He died in 1830, deranged, grossly overweight and a laughingstock.