Guinea: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1761): Art, History and Details

Guinea: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1761) 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:

No five- or two-guinea pieces were issued for general circulation during this reign, but there were large numbers of guineas, the unit piece. The reign saw a profusion of pattern and proof pieces being struck, mostly because a further coinage reform was imminent, as was the removal of the Royal Mint from the Tower of London, where there had been a mint for over 600 years. 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. This coin, one of the earliest patterns of the reign, bears a portrait on the obverse similar to that of George II rather than George III.

Object facts

• Title: Guinea: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse)
• Date: 1761
• Creator attribution: Richard Yeo (British, 1720–1779)
• Culture: England, George III, 1760-1820
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 2.4 cm (15/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.209

A detail from the museum

Richard Yeo first came to notice in 1746, when he produced the official medal for the battle of Culloden.

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.