Cleveland Museum of Art

Guinea: George III (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse)

Richard Yeo

Date

1761

Medium

gold

Culture

England, George III, 1760-1820

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

No five- or two-guinea pieces were issued for general circulation during this reign, but there were large numbers of guineas, the unit piece. The reign saw a profusion of pattern and proof pieces being struck, mostly because a further coinage reform was imminent, as was the removal of the Royal Mint from the Tower of London, where there had been a mint for over 600 years. Richard Yeo was appointed assistant engraver at the Royal Mint in 1749, chief engraver in 1775, and died in 1779. He was responsible for a large number of pattern pieces and for some of the currency coins of the period. This coin, one of the earliest patterns of the reign, bears a portrait on the obverse similar to that of George II rather than George III. Richard Yeo first came to notice in 1746, when he produced the official medal for the battle of Culloden.

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