Great Britain: George III Pattern "Hercules" Crown in copper 1820,...

Description

George III Pattern "Hercules" Crown in copper 1820, ESC244, L&S212, Plain Edge, PF65 BN NGC, a beautiful Gem bronzed Proof example of this curious non-portrait piece by Droz after or inspired by the French company Monneron Freres's 1792 pattern by Augustin Dupre, featuring the image of the ancient mythical Hercules seated on a lion's skin, bending or breaking a bundle of sticks (the "fasces," long a symbol for authority) over one knee, his back near a crumbling column, club under his right ankle, facing a sea full of ships. Interpret the imagery as you will. Reverse features a large crowned Hanoverian shield surrounded by a Latin legend used for centuries on large milled silver coins as an edge device (meaning "An Ornament and a Safeguard," originally from the Roman poet Virgil), also suggestive of defiance or power. A stunning example of this classic, which was probably intended to demonstrate Boulton and Watt's (and Droz's) insistence that they could make machinery and could produce dies to mint coins that would be superior in every way to the older style of milled coinage.

Metal: Silver
Diameter: 38.61mm

More information about Great Britain Coins. See also: Great Britain World Coin Nationality.

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