Five Guineas: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1777): Art, History and Details

Five Guineas: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1777) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Richard Yeo (British, 1720–1779).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This is an extremely rare piece and one demonstrating the ability of the artist. Richard Yeo was appointed assistant engraver at the Royal Mint in 1749, chief engraver in 1775, and died in 1779. He was responsible for a large number of pattern pieces and for some of the currency coins of the period.

Object facts

• Title: Five Guineas: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse)
• Date: 1777
• Creator attribution: Richard Yeo (British, 1720–1779)
• Culture: England, George III, 1760-1820
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.211

A detail from the museum

A pattern piece, this coin was not made for circulation.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.