Conceived in Rome on 29 May 1784, Benedetto Pistrucci came to London in 1815 under the support of the Prince Regent.
His notoriety for being a pearl etcher of exceptional capacity had gone before him and, on first experience with the Master of the Mint, he was charged to get ready plans for the new gold and silver coinage of George III. He engraved the coin pictures of both George III and George IV however is maybe best known for his sublime Waterloo Medal and his George and Dragon made for the new gold Sovereign of 1817 and adjusted for the gold five-pound piece and silver crowns.
As a nonnative Pistrucci couldn't be delegated Chief Engraver of The Royal Mint, and was rather utilized as Chief Medallist, his work area still stays nearby right up 'til the present time.
Of the considerable number of changes that accompanied the coinage change amid the rule of George III, a standout amongst the most striking was clearly the new outline for the turn around of the gold Sovereign, the customary heraldic approach being relinquished for a plan of great magnificence by the gifted jewel etcher Benedetto Pistrucci.
It appears that Pistrucci himself recommended the legend of St George for the new gold Sovereigns. His enthusiasm for St George had been excited by Lady Spencer to whom he had been presented by Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society and companion of William Wellesley Pole, Master of the Mint. Her Ladyship demonstrated Pistrucci a wax model of St George and requesting that he make another 'in the Greek style'; Lady Spencer had no time for a figure wearing gothic covering, an estimation which couldn't neglect to speak to a touchy Italian whose most loved saying was said to be 'think about Greek firsts day and night'.
The thought obviously spoke to Pole who, to keep away from disarray, needed the Sovereign to look as changed as conceivable from the superseded guinea. Also, all things considered, what more suitable figure to beauty the turn around of the Sovereign than the benefactor holy person of England? Therefore for a detailed expense of 100 guineas, Pistrucci embraced to give a jasper cameo of St George, taking as his model an Italian hireling in Brunet's lodging in Leicester Square, London. The outcome is an exemplary perfect work of art, a coin configuration joining such effortlessness and emotional effect that it now positions as one of the best adored and most persevering of numismatic plans.