Five pounds (gold coin)
The five pound British gold coin, also known as a quintuple sovereign, has a nominal value of five pounds sterling. It has been struck intermittently since 1820, though as a circulation coin only in 1887, 1893 and 1902. Through most of its history, it has depicted, on its reverse, Benedetto Pistrucci's portrayal of St George and the Dragon, which has traditionally been used on the sovereign, or one-pound gold coin.
The five-pound piece was one of the original denominations of gold coins authorised as part of the Great Recoinage of 1816. It was not struck until 1820, and then only as a pattern coin. It was issued again in small numbers in 1826, 1829 and 1839, with the last using the well-regarded depiction of Una and the Lion by William Wyon. Although the Una coin was for sale for almost half a century at the Royal Mint, only about 400 are believed to have been struck.
In 1887, it was struck for the first time for circulation, and it was struck also in 1893 and 1902, though few actually circulated; examples struck in 1911 were only available as part of a proof set. In 1887 and 1902 it was struck in very small numbers at the Sydney Mint, with examples bearing its mint mark S. The examples struck in preparation for the coinage of Edward VIII are highly prized; one sold in 2021 for £1,654,000, the highest price paid for a British coin.
Since 1980, the five-pound gold piece has been struck in most years by the Royal Mint for sale to collectors and holders of bullion. Although generally featuring Pistrucci's design, commemorative versions have been issued, such as in 2022, as a memorial following the death of Elizabeth II, featuring the bust of her son and successor, Charles III.
Origins
The five guinea gold coin started out in 1668 as a coin worth one hundred shillings, and was sometimes called a five-pound coin. This was before the fluctuating value of the guinea settled at twenty-one shillings in 1717. According to Richard Lobel, in his Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, there is some argument that the five-pound piece issued after the Great Recoinage of 1816 was merely a continuation of the earlier coin, which had last been struck in 1753. However, Lobel separates the two series in his catalogue.After the Napoleonic Wars, Parliament, by the Coinage Act 1816, placed Britain officially on the gold standard, with the pound to be defined as a given quantity of gold. During parliamentary debate, almost every speaker supported having a coin valued at twenty shillings, rather than continuing to use the guinea. One reason for the introduction of gold coinage based on the sovereign was that its value, equal to one pound sterling, was more convenient than the guinea, equal to twenty-one shillings. Nevertheless, the Coinage Act did not specify which coins the Mint should strike.
A committee of the Privy Council recommended gold coins of ten shillings, twenty shillings, two pounds and five pounds be issued, and this was accepted by George, Prince Regent on 3August 1816. The twenty-shilling piece was named a sovereign, with the resurrection of the old name possibly promoted by antiquarians with numismatic interests. The sovereign and half sovereign were both first issued in 1817, but there was initially no striking of the two larger coins. Since 1754, there had been no issuance of coins more valuable than a guinea intended for general circulation; the need for higher value tender had been met by bank notes. The St George and the dragon design was suggested as an appropriate motif for the sovereign by its creator, Benedetto Pistrucci, based on a cameo he had carved.
Early issues
The first striking of the five-pound denomination after the coinage reform was in 1820 as a pattern coin, depicting George III. The obverse shows the right-facing bust of the king with the legend and the date, while the reverse shows Pistrucci's George and dragon design with no legend or date. This design had first appeared on the sovereign in 1817, surrounded by a Garter. The design has Pistrucci's surname at the lower left, with the initials of the master of the Mint, William Wellesley-Pole, near the broken spear.Lobel, in describing the 1820 five-pound piece, noted that on a copy of G. F. Crowther's 1887 book, A Guide to English Pattern Coins presented to an unknown person with the publisher's compliments, there is a pencil notation that work on the 1820 piece was completed a few days before George III's death, and after Pistrucci, walking home on the day the king died, heard church bells announcing the demise. He then returned to the Royal Mint and instructed that some five-pound coins be struck the next morning. Lobel described this as a "fascinating episode of numismatic history". The numismatist Edward Hawkins, writing in 1850, also wrote dramatically, describing what he deemed heroic efforts to ensure that the pattern double sovereigns and five-pound coins were actually struck before the king died, but William John Hocking and others have since studied the matter, concluding the coinage dies were not completed until after the king's death on 29 January. The approximately 25 specimens were distributed among Royal Mint officials, prominent numismatists and other important people of the day, as well as given to the Royal Mint and British Museum. One sold in October 2021 for about £635,000.
The next appearance of the denomination was in the reign of George IV, in 1826, included in the proof set of that year. One piece is known dated 1829. The obverse shows the left-facing bust of the king with the legend while the reverse shows a crowned shield within a mantle cape with the legend . The 1826 coin has the edge inscription , while the 1829 coin has a plain edge. No five-pound coins were issued during the reign of William IV.
Victoria five-pound coins
The next coin of this value did not appear until early in the reign of Queen Victoria, when what Lobel deems one of the most famous and attractive of all British coins was produced. This piece, known as the Una and the Lion coin, is described by him as having "cult status". Una and the Lion appear in Edmund Spenser's 16th century epic The Faerie Queene. The obverse shows the young head of the queen, facing left with the legend , while the reverse shows her as Una leading the lion to the left, with the legend , though some coins say with the date MDCCCXXXIX in the exergue under the lion. The edge may either have the inscription or be plain. These coins were struck on demand and were sold by the Royal Mint until 1886; there are a number of varieties and a total mintage of perhaps 400. A specimen in exceptional condition sold in 2021 for US$1.44 million.Pistrucci's George and dragon depiction returned to the five-pound coin in 1887, as part of the Jubilee coinage, with an obverse by Joseph Boehm. The new coin bears the wording . The abbreviated form of Britanniarum is rendered as rather than with a single "T": Gladstone, a classical scholar as well as a politician, had pointed out that the abbreviation of a Latin plural noun should end with a doubled consonant.
The 1887 five-pound coin marked the first time that the denomination was available to the public at its face value; previous issues had been pattern or proof coins. In addition to those available for purchase at face value, proof coins were struck as part of the 1887 proof set. The five-pound and two-pound pieces did not circulate to any great extent, and were kept primarily as souvenirs. Nevertheless, the 1887 issue made the five-pound piece the highest-denomination circulating coin in Britain. A few of the 1887 five-pound coins were struck at the Sydney Mint and bear its mint mark "S" on the reverse. This is an extreme rarity, with only two being known in private handsone sold in 2021 for US$660,000.
The Pistrucci reverse was used again in 1893, when the obverse used the "Old Head" or "Veiled Head" of the queen, with the legend , and the edge, like that of the Jubilee issue, is milled. Victoria had been lobbying since 1888 for her title as empress of India, granted by the Royal Titles Act 1876, to be included on the coinage, and on 12 February 1892, the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, wrote to her, "Your Majesty's Servants are of opinion that the title of Empress of India, indicating, as it does, Your Majesty's relation to far the larger portion of Your subjects, ought to appear on the coin, in the shape of the letters 'Ind Imp' or 'I.I.' or some such abbreviation.", short for , thus appears on the 1893 issue, which was available both at face value and as part of a proof set.
Early 20th-century five-pound coins
Following the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, preparations began for the coinage of her son and successor, Edward VII, and a five-pound coin, with an obverse by George William de Saulles, was made current by proclamation dated 1 January 1902. The Royal Mint had decided to make as few changes as possible for King Edward's coinage, and the Pistrucci reverse continued for the gold coins. Five-pound coins were issued both at face value and in the proof sets issued to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. The legend on the obverse reads . The word , was added after in recognition of the empire's assistance during the Boer War, these words last appeared on British coinage in 1953. During Edward's reign, five-pound coins were only struck in 1902. A small number of coins, with the mint mark "S", were struck in 1902 at Sydney, and are extremely rare.Five-pound coins dated 1911 were struck as part of the coronation proof sets that year for George V, but for uncertain reasons, no ordinary, non-proof specimens were coined. This was the only issuance of five-pound coins during that reign. These coins featured a bust of King George by Bertram Mackennal, Pistrucci's reverse and a legend that was unaltered except to substitute the name of the king, rendered as.
Following the death of King George in 1936, preparations began for the coinage of his son and successor, Edward VIII. The new king wanted his profile to face left on the new coinage, the same way as his father, which would break a tradition to reverse the direction on the commencement of a new reign which dated back to 1660. Following extensive correspondence between the king and the chancellor of the exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, Edward got his way, and pattern coins bearing a left-facing bust of the king by Thomas Humphrey Paget were struck. The Pistrucci reverse was used, but the king's abdication in December 1936 ended the preparations. Edward later requested a set of the pattern coins prepared for him, but was refused by his brother and successor, George VI. Edward's five-pound coin is extremely rare, with only two known to be in private hands, of which one sold in 2021 for US$2,280,000, a record for a British coin. The legend on Edward's five-pound piece was identical to that of the previous reign but for the name and date; only a similar change was made for George VI, whose five-pound coin features a left-facing bust by Paget and the Pistrucci reverse. This was only struck in 1937, with a plain edge, as part of the coronation proof sets. None were issued for general circulation; but gold had vanished from circulation in Britain twenty years previously.