1 Sovereign - George III Pattern (1817)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1817 |
| Denomination | 1 Sovereign |
| Face value | £1 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Series | Sovereign |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Shape | Round |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Rev. artist | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Laureate portrait of King George III right.
St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, holding a broken lance.
1 Sovereign - George III Pattern market value
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Daily limit reached1 Sovereign - George III Pattern value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VF | £690.58 🔒 | £1,351.49 (2) | – | £690.58 – £2,012.40 | 0 | 2 | 18-05-2025 | |
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About the 1817 1 Sovereign - George III Pattern
The 1817 1 Sovereign - George III Pattern is a collector 1 sovereign coin in the Sovereign series. Reverse design: St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, holding a broken lance.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1817 1 Sovereign - George III Pattern worth?
The 1817 1 Sovereign - George III Pattern has a price in one grade on MyCoinage so far: £1,351 in VF, the median of its verified sales.
What is the 1817 pattern sovereign?
A trial striking made while Benedetto Pistrucci's designs for the new sovereign were being prepared. It pairs a laureate head of George III with St George slaying the dragon. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a gold pattern sovereign of 1817 attributed to Pistrucci.
How is a pattern different from an 1817 sovereign?
A pattern was struck to test a design, not to circulate. The Royal Mint Museum's early trial sovereign has an off-centre obverse without an inscription, a rudimentary St George, no Garter and a plain edge. The issued coin has a full legend, the Garter and a milled edge.
Why does St George hold a broken lance?
Pistrucci's original design shows the saint still holding part of the spear he has broken in the fight. Wikipedia records that the broken spear was replaced by a sword in 1821, when the Garter around the design was also removed.
History and design
The sovereign was introduced in 1817 as the new twenty-shilling gold coin of the Great Recoinage. The Royal Mint Museum records that Benedetto Pistrucci was commissioned to provide portrait models of George III for the new gold and silver, and that the Mint's own engravers first cut his models in steel. Unhappy with the result, he mastered the technique himself, so that his St George and the dragon for the sovereigns of 1817 was entirely his own.
Patterns and trial strikes survive from this process. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a gold pattern sovereign with St George reverse dated 1817 and attributed to Pistrucci, measuring 21.6 by 21.9 mm. The Royal Mint Museum holds an undated gold trial sovereign weighing 8.01 g, referred to in Forrer's Biographical Dictionary of Medallists. No number struck is recorded for either.
The obverse shows a laureate head of George III to right. The reverse shows St George on horseback slaying the dragon, holding a broken lance, the motif Pistrucci adapted from his wax model for the crown.
The Royal Mint Museum's trial shows how early such pieces could be. Its obverse is off-centre and lacks an inscription, St George is very rudimentary, the Garter has not yet been added and the edge is plain rather than milled. The Museum says this agrees with Pistrucci's own account placing the piece early in the process.
Collecting notes
Patterns of the first sovereign are museum-level pieces and were never issued as money. Points to check on any example are the metal, whether there is a legend and a Garter, the edge (plain or milled) and the date. The issued coin, with the full legend, the Garter and a milled edge, is the 1817 sovereign, and the Royal Mint Museum also holds a proof of that type dated 1817.
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 sovereign with St. George reverse, 1817 (2000.224.4), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III trial sovereign (RMM 1177), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Benedetto Pistrucci, Royal Mint Museum (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Sovereign (British coin), Wikipedia (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III proof sovereign, 1817 (RMM 1172), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
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