George IV 1823 Two-Pounds, bare head, NGC MS64, first currency issue of £2

George IV (1820-30), gold Two Pounds, 1823, bare head left, J.B.M. below truncation for engraver Jean Baptiste Merlen, abbreviated Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, GEORGIUS IIII D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F:D:, rev. St. George and dragon right, W.W.P. below broken lance on ground line for then Mint Master William Wellesley Pole, date in exergue, initials B.P. to upper right of exergue for engraver Benedetto Pistrucci, edge engraved in raised letters, DECUS ET TUTAMEN. ANNO REGNI IV. (Schneider 635; Hill T6; MCE 470; S.3798). Toned with an underlying brilliance, very well preserved, graded and slabbed by NGC as MS64.

NGC Certification 8534314-009 with Pallas Collection label on black core.

The Latin legends translate as "George the Fourth by the Grace of God, King of all the Britons, Defender of the Faith" and on the edge as "An ornament and a safeguard, in the fourth year of the reign". The various initials that feature on the coin are for the engravers and Master of the Mint as shown above. William Wellesley Pole was the elder brother of

the Duke of Wellington.

A mintage figure is not officially known for the gold double sovereign of 1823, but a rough indication can be perhaps be gleaned from looking closer at the gold output figure for 1823 which totals £759,749 of gold. If we then deduct the Sovereign figure produced of 616,770 as that is £616,770 worth, and then the Half-Sovereign mintage of 224,280 which equates to £112,140 worth, then we are left with £30,839 of gold output. Though this does not equate equally to gold Two Pound coins it may well indicate a maximum number of 15,419 pieces, though what was struck in a calendar year may not necessarily equate to a date on the coin.

Provenance:

Ex Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin, April 1976, item G431 for £625.

Ex The Pallas Collection 445.