Owner Comments:
GT.BRITAIN, GEORGE V GOLD PROOF SOVEREIGN 1911
(S 4006).
OBVERSE: Designed by Edgar Bertram Mackennal, bare head left, B.M. on truncation, toothed border and raised rim, georgivs v d: g: britt: omn: rex f : d : ind : imp :.
REVERSE: Engraved after Benedetto Pistrucci, St George slaying dragon with sword, helmet with three strand streamer, horse with long tail, ending in three strands, with one spur higher up at curve, broken lance on ground-line to left, wwp in relief under lance, date in exergue, tiny b.p. to upper right, finely toothed border within twin linear concentric circles and raised rim.
DIAMETER: 22.05 mm.
WEIGHT: 7.9987 g.
FINENESS: 22 carat.
EDGE: Milled.
MINTAGE: 3,764
RATING: S
GEORGE V, 1911 GOLD PROOF SOVEREIGN
According to English Silver Coinage, 3764 proof sets were issued of one formation or the other, which included a proof gold Sovereign. Single coins may well have been available on request too, so the final figure could be around 4000 struck. The reverse design continues from the reign of Edward VII still carrying the same outer border treatment as instigated in the reign of Queen Victoria. The coinage of the reign of King George V features a bare head portrait of the King facing to the left by the Australian sculptor, Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 1863 – 10 October 1931), whose initials appear on the truncation of the bust and with the titles georgivs v d: g: britt: omn: rex f : d : ind : imp : Mackennal was famed for his artistic sculptures, but became more numismatically interesting, as the designer of the Olympic Medals for the London Olympic Games of 1908. This led to the commission for the Coronation Medallion for King George V, and he then successfully won the commission for the coinage and for postage stamp portraits. One other Royal commission was to design the tomb for King Edward VII at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He was also the first Australian citizen to be knighted, in 1921 and was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1922. For the Sovereign the classic St George and dragon design continues engraved, after Pistrucci with his initials in the exergue, and amazingly still featuring the tiny wwp under the lance for William Wellesley Pole from his days of the Master-ship of the Mint circa 1820. Had the London Mint continued to produce gold Sovereigns from 1928, like some of the Colonial Mints did, then a smaller portrait of George V would no doubt have appeared as at Melbourne, Perth and Pretoria. More significantly, the reverses of these Colonial small head pieces are revised and the wwp initials disappear at last.
GEORGE V
The Reign of King George V (House of Windsor) 1910-1936.
Born: 3 June 1865.
Accession: 6 May 1910.
Married: Mary of Teck, 6 July 1893.
Coronation: Thursday, 22 June 1911; second Coronation as Emperor of India at the Delhi Durbar, 12 December 1911. Children: five sons, one daughter.
Died: 20 January 1936, aged 70.
1911 SOVEREIGN PF64 ULTRA CAMEO
Gorgious black and white CAMEO with undisturbed frosty devices contrasting deeply mirrored fields making for outstanding eye appeal. Ultra cameos are very unusual for George V proofs.
NGC pop report shows only three 1911 Ultra Cameo proofs, one 64, one 65 and one 66.