Two Pound Piece: George III (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse) (1820): Art, History and Details

Two Pound Piece: George III (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse) (1820) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855).

The work and its context

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

The five- and two-pound pieces struck for George III were only struck as patterns in this, the last year of the his reign. No pieces of either denomination were put into circulation. This very rare piece shows Pistrucci's Saint George as modified by Wyon. In the original the lance is broken; here the lance a been converted by Wyon into a sword, and it has appeared thus in future coinage. Later, in currency issues, the streamer disappears for a time for the helmet.

Object facts

• Title: Two Pound Piece: George III (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse)
• Date: 1820
• Creator attribution: Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855)
• Culture: England, George III, 1760-1820
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.213

A detail from the museum

Benedetto Pistrucci was an Italian gem and coin engraver, medallist, and carver of cameos.

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.