2 Pounds - George IV (1823)

About the 1823 2 Pounds - George IV

The 1823 2 Pounds - George IV is a circulating 2 sovereigns coin, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 15.98g and measures 28.4mm across. Reverse design: St George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date in exergue.

It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The Coinage Act of 1816 put Britain on the gold standard, and in August 1816 the Prince Regent accepted a Privy Council plan for gold pieces of ten shillings, one pound, two pounds and five pounds. The sovereign and half sovereign followed in 1817, but the two larger coins were first struck only as patterns in 1820, at the end of George III's reign.

The 1823 double sovereign was the first £2 piece made for circulation. It is the only one of George IV's four double sovereign dates intended for use; the 1824 to 1826 coins are proofs and patterns. No reliable mintage is published, and the denomination never had a large part in everyday payments, although worn 1823 examples are known.

The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George slaying the dragon, the design first used on the sovereign of 1817. Here it has no legend: the date 1823 sits in the exergue, Pistrucci's initials B.P. are near it, and W.W.P., for the Master of the Mint William Wellesley Pole, is recorded below the broken lance.

The obverse is a bare head of the king facing left, based on a bust by Francis Chantrey. Pistrucci refused to copy another sculptor's work, so the head was engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen, whose initials J.B.M. appear under the truncation. The legend reads GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:, and the edge is lettered DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI IV, giving the fourth year of the reign. The king's numeral IIII and the edge's IV express the same number two ways.

Varieties and errors

Proof strikings dated 1823 exist alongside the currency coin; the Royal Mint Museum holds two, catalogued as Wilson and Rasmussen 218. No die varieties or mint errors are documented.

Collecting notes

Check the edge lettering, the J.B.M. initials under the head and the B.P. near the date; a genuine example weighs close to 16 g. Copies exist in several forms. The Fitzwilliam Museum holds a copper contemporary forgery or gaming counter of this coin weighing only 6.29 g, Perth holds an electrotype copy and Norfolk a mounted fake, so light weight, a cast surface or a missing edge legend are warning signs.

Proofs exist, but most examples offered are currency strikes. The double sovereign that followed was a different design: the 1824 to 1826 shield reverse proofs. The George III 1820 pattern came before it.