1 Dollar - George III Pattern mule (1804)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1804 |
| Denomination | 4 Shillings |
| Face value | 20p |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Composition | Gold (.9167) (917/1000 fine) |
| Diameter | 39.0mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Conrad Heinrich Küchler |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, K. signature.
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, C. H. K. signature.
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1804 1 Dollar - George III Pattern – mule
The 1804 1 Dollar - George III Pattern – mule is a collector 4 shillings coin, struck in 91.67% gold. It measures 39mm across. Reverse design: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, C. H. K. signature.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1804 1 Dollar - George III Pattern – mule worth?
No verified sale of the 1804 1 Dollar - George III Pattern – mule has been logged on MyCoinage yet.
What is a double-obverse mule?
A mule is a coin struck from two dies never meant to be paired. Here both dies are obverses, so George III's head appears on each side and there is no reverse. One side reads GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX and the other GEORGIUS III D:G REX.
Is the gold 1804 mule dollar unique?
Dix Noonan Webb described the gold double-obverse dollar it sold in September 2016 as believed to be unique. A gold double-obverse pattern graded NGC PF 66 Star Ultra Cameo was offered by MDC Monaco in June 2021. Whether these are one coin or two is not established.
Who made the gold mule dollar?
The portraits are Conrad Heinrich Küchler's, whose initials appear as CHK and K. Dix Noonan Webb credited its gold piece to William J. Taylor, working after John Phillp and Küchler. Taylor is recorded as having obtained Bank dollar dies, which he used freely for restriking.
Was the double-obverse dollar ever legal tender?
No. It is a trial or private striking in gold from dies of the Bank of England dollar series. The issued Bank dollars were silver pieces overstruck on Spanish 8 reales, with George III on one side and Britannia on the other.
How do I identify the 1804 1 Dollar - George III Pattern – mule?
Check the diameter 39mm and the metal (91.67% gold) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
From 1804 the Bank of England had its stock of Spanish dollars overstruck at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint, with Conrad Heinrich Küchler's portrait of George III on one side and Britannia on the other. Tony Clayton records five obverse dies for these dollars, told apart by where the top leaf of the wreath points, whether the signature reads C.H.K. or CHK, and whether a stop follows REX.
This piece is a mule: two obverse dies struck together, so it carries a portrait on both sides and no reverse. It is struck in gold, which the issued dollars never were. NGC, which graded one such piece PF 66 Star Ultra Cameo for MDC Monaco's sale of June 2021, described it as undated, since the date of the Bank dollar sits on the Britannia side. Dix Noonan Webb sold a gold double-obverse dollar in September 2016 that it believed to be unique.
Both sides show a laureate bust of George III. NGC notes that the two sides differ slightly: one reads GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX and the other shortens the title to GEORGIUS III D:G REX. Below the bust the initials CHK appear on one side and K on the other, both taken to stand for Küchler, Boulton's engraver, who died in 1810.
Dix Noonan Webb credited its gold example to William J. Taylor working after John Phillp and Küchler. Numismatic News, reporting the sale, quotes C. Wilson Peck's British Museum catalogue that Taylor obtained a number of Bank dollar dies, "which he used freely for re-striking". That points to a later striking from old dies rather than a trial made at Soho in 1804.
Collecting notes
This is not a coin that circulated, and it is not a variety of the Bank dollar a collector is likely to meet. At most one or two gold examples are documented, and both have passed through major auctions with full provenance. Any other piece offered as a gold mule should be checked against those records. The silver coin it borrows its portraits from is the 1804 Bank of England dollar.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Two-Headed British Pattern Coin Among NGC-graded Rarities in MDC Monaco Sale, NGC (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Two-headed British pattern coin among world rarities in MDC Monaco sale, CoinWeek (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Two-headed gold 'dollar' star of sale, Numismatic News (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III, Royal Mint Museum (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Five Shillings, Quarter Guinea and Five and Six, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 12 Oct 2026)
