George III 1817 'INCORRUPTA' gold Pattern proof Crown, NGC PF63+ UCAM

George III (1760-1820), Pattern Crown, 1817, struck in gold, "Incorrupta" design engraved by William Wyon, laureate and draped bust facing right, the wreath with six berries tied with ribbon, the drapery with a rose fastener, design and lettering stippled to varying degrees giving frosted appearance that especially contrasts between skin and drapery in portrait, W. WYON: in small letters immediately below rear of drapery, date figures below at bottom of obverse, legend surrounding design, GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIARUM REX, the final letter overlapped by front of drapery, toothed border and raised rim surrounding both sides, rev. struck en medaille, crowned quartered shield of arms, with crowned escutcheon of the Arms of Hanover at centre, interior of larger crown frosted, legend surrounding, INCORRUPTA FIDES VERITASQUE, edge plain, weight 48.61g (ESC 230 R5; Bull 2030 R5; Linecar and Stone 160; Milled Silver Coinage (1925) p.187 No.14a; Montagu 566; Murdoch 200; Nobleman 67A; Wilson & Rasmussen 208 R5; Davies 23). Amongst the rarest of gold strikings of pattern crowns, there were apparently no more than seven struck in gold of this pattern by Wyon, with an attractive underlying red hue in the presumed copper alloy of the fine gold, a little double struck in parts giving a doubling of the obverse profile and more so the legend which is "ghosted" in its upper portion but by no means detracts as such pattern pieces received more than one blow of the dies, one of Wyon's most attractive and life-like portraits emulating the classic design for Oliver Cromwell by Thomas Simon and using the stippling technique to frost the design in a cameo contrast to the brilliant fields, a few light hairlines evident and has been slabbed and graded by NGC as PF63+ Ultra Cameo, of the highest rarity with no more than three of the seven struck in commerce today, an unrivalled opportunity to secure a piece of numismatic art.

The abbreviated legends translate as "George the Third, by the grace of God, King of the Britons" on the obverse, continuing on the reverse as "An untarnished Faith".

The mintage of the pattern Incorrupta Crown is given in near contemporary sales catalogues of this coin (dating from only six years from the date on the coin onward), as 18 struck in silver and 7 in gold. A young William Wyon (1795-1851) was finding his footing as a young engraver in the mint at the time of the date of this coin and produced two revered patterns for the Crown dated 1817. This Incorrupta design was one, which emulates the Thomas Simon design for Oliver Cromwell's portrait Crown with a similar reverse design that incorporates the Arms of Hanover. The work of Thomas Simon though he had worked for the Puritans was still highly respected amongst the engraving fraternity and J. S. Tanner (1705-77) the Chief Engraver under the reign of George II had produced his own versions of Cromwell's coins from an insatiable demand from contemporary collectors and as a mark of his engraving skill circa 1738. The Incorrupta pattern crown was therefore Wyon's up to date rendition of this earlier design (as of 1817) and his finest engraving effort that was directly comparable to the work of Thomas Simon dating from over 150 years before. It was perhaps because the design was so similar to the earlier Puritan crown that the pattern went no further towards being considered as a proposal for the new crowns which appeared as currency dating from 1818 to 1820 by Pistrucci, with Cromwell and his cause being so anti-Royalist. Wyon's other 1817 dated pattern crown was not considered further for currency either, the magnificent Three Graces Crown of which only three were struck in gold. The Incorrupta gold crown remains of the highest rarity and we can only trace three in commerce in the last 35 years.

Provenance:

Ex UBS, Basel, Auction 50, 30^th January 2001, lot 24 where weight of 48.61g given, sold for 85,000CHF hammer.

The other two examples we have traced of this gold pattern in private ownership are:

Example One

Ex Dominic Mitchell Collection, Glendining, 27^th April 1949, lot 121.

Ex Captain Vivian Hewitt, collection purchased by Spink in 1967.

Ex John G. Brooker, gold collection purchased by Spink in 1971.

Ex Herman Selig Collection, part 2, Coins of George III, Spink Auction 131, 2^nd March 1999, lot 1183.

This coin we believe later sold on to Japan.

Example Two

From a European source of undetermined origin.

Ex Grant Collection, Spink Auction 107, 22^nd November 1994, lot 420 (later appears on front cover dust jacket of Wilson and Rasmussen book English Pattern Trial and Proof Coins in Gold).

Ex Dix Noonan and Webb auction, 25^th September 2005, lot 930.

Ex Kroisis Collection, Stacks, New York, 14^th January 2008, lot 2927.

Ex Ludovico Collection, Stacks, New York, 22^nd April 2009, lot 1451 now NGC graded as PF63 Ultra Cameo.

Ex MDC Monaco, 27^th October 2020, lot 792 now NGC graded as PF65+ Ultra Cameo.

Ex MDC Monaco, 3^rd May 2024, lot 949 sold for a total of 720,000 euro.