United Kingdom, George IV, 1826 Bronzed Proof Halfpenny Very Scarce PCGS PR63 BN

The Coin

This is a lovely proof halfpenny. The surfaces are an attractive, deep brown relatively free of green spots. The edges are pristine and sharp. In bronze, the Chantrey/Wyon bust takes on a striking nature. Each cut of the king’s intricate locks is fully accentuated in the darkness and shadow of the metal, and the matt surface quality somehow brings an even further realism to the king’s features. The reverse features Wyon’s noble and longevous Britannia design, emblematic of a Britain brimming with history and tradition.

There are four distinct varieties of 1826 halfpennies listed by Peck, three of which are proofs: 1.) bronzed proof of reverse A; 2.) copper proof of reverse A; 3.) circulation issue of reverse B; and this example here, which is a bronzed proof of reverse B. The difference between reverses A and B lies in the saltire (cross) on Britannia’s shield. Reverse A features two incuse lines along the arms of the saltire and reverse B features just one.

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.