1 Crown - George III Pattern Silver (1818)
Circulating version: 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Base Metal
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1818 |
| Denomination | 1 Crown |
| Face value | 25p |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Composition | Silver |
| Weight | 28.300g |
| Diameter | 38.6mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Obv. artist | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Rev. artist | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Laureate portrait of King George III right, legend around, date below.
St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, legend around.
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver
The 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver is a collector 1 crown coin, struck in silver. It weighs 28.3g and measures 38.6mm across. Reverse design: St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, legend around.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver worth?
No verified sale of the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver has been logged on MyCoinage yet. Its silver content is worth up to £36.32 at today's spot price, which puts a floor under its value.
How is the 1818 pattern crown different from the currency crown?
The patterns differ in detail rather than design. Pieces on record show larger obverse lettering, a large head, a sharply chamfered truncation, a Garter ruled with fine horizontal lines, and either a plain edge or a raised edge with inverted letters or rose stops.
Who designed the 1818 crown?
Benedetto Pistrucci, who modelled both the laureate head of George III and St George slaying the dragon. Wikipedia records that he signed both sides with his full surname and that the Master of the Mint, William Wellesley Pole, directed many details of the design.
What does WWP on the 1818 crown mean?
The initials of William Wellesley Pole, Master of the Mint. Spink describes WWP incuse on the Garter buckle of its pattern crown, under the St George group. Pole oversaw the Great Recoinage and pressed Pistrucci on details of the crown's design.
How many 1818 pattern crowns were made?
No number is recorded. Spink rated its piece R5 in the ESC catalogue. The Royal Mint Museum holds one example, catalogued in the Mint's own collection lists of 1874 and 1906.
How is the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver different from the circulating coin?
This is a collector version of the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Base Metal, not the coin found in change. It is struck in silver rather than base.
How do I identify the 1818 1 Crown - George III Pattern – Silver?
Check the weight 28.3g and diameter 38.6mm and the metal (silver) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
The crown had not been struck for circulation since 1751, and Tony Clayton notes that it came back in 1818 as part of the Great Recoinage. The Royal Mint Museum calls the result an attempt to revive the coin by pairing Benedetto Pistrucci's head of George III with his St George and the dragon, said at the time to be one of the handsomest coins in Europe. It did not re-establish the crown in everyday use.
Getting the coin made was slow. A Royal Mint Museum note on its 1818 proof crown records that the edge was first meant to be incuse, that tools of several designs were prepared and some struck as trials, and that raised lettering was then reinstated. Striking raised letters in a collar needed a collar split into segments, and the trials and portrait variations make a complete run of the 1818 crown a long undertaking for a collector.
The obverse is Pistrucci's laureate head of George III facing right with GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIARUM REX F: D: 1818 and PISTRUCCI below the bust. The reverse is St George on horseback slaying the dragon within the Garter, inscribed HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE, with PISTRUCCI in the exergue. Wikipedia notes that Pistrucci signed both sides in full, which drew criticism, and that William Wellesley Pole, Master of the Mint, directed him on details from the sword to the dragon.
The silver patterns differ from the currency coin in their details. Spink describes a large head, toothed borders, a Garter ruled with horizontal lines and WWP, for Wellesley Pole, incuse on the buckle. A piece sold by Stack's Bowers has larger obverse lettering and a sharply chamfered truncation.
Varieties and errors
Three silver patterns are on record: the Royal Mint Museum's plain-edged piece (ESC 234), Spink's piece with the edge letters inverted (ESC 236), and the Stack's Bowers piece with rose stops on its raised edge.
Collecting notes
No number struck is recorded. The Royal Mint Museum's example weighs 28.04 g and appears in the Mint's 1874 and 1906 collection catalogues. Spink's piece, from the Slaney collection, traces back through the Lingford and Paget sales.
Check the edge first. The currency 1818 crown has a raised lettered edge with the regnal year, so a plain edge or inverted lettering points to a pattern. Then check the Garter for horizontal ruling and the obverse for larger lettering. Clayton notes that some currency crowns of 1818 have a misassembled edge reading DECVS ANNO REGNI LVIII ET TVTAMEN, a production error rather than a pattern.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- George III pattern crown, 1818 (RMM 1189), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- The Slaney Collection of English Coins, Part 2, lot 523: George III pattern Crown, 1818, Spink (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Incredible Rare Great Britain Pattern Crown: Stack's Bowers NYINC, CoinWeek (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III proof crown, 1818 (RMM 1190), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Benedetto Pistrucci, Wikipedia (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Five Shillings, Quarter Guinea and Five and Six, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Crown, Royal Mint Museum (read 12 Oct 2026)
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