To celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a new rendition of St George and the dragon has been created especially for the 2012 gold Sovereign family and is available for one year only.
The traditional St George and dragon design by Benedetto Pistrucci is replaced only on rare and special occasions. The Queen’s historic Diamond Jubilee is such an event, so the 2012 Sovereign features a brand new design.
Beautifully composed, and immediately reminiscent of medieval lore, a ferocious dragon is despatched by a knight in Gothic armour. The new reverse coin was designed by artist Paul Day who explains; “I have chosen to opt for a Romantic version of the St George and the dragon theme - a medieval knight of Arthurian legend, something quite traditional and true to our culture. I have given the dragon a more threatening attitude and size, so that it represents a real menace: its wings have a harp-like quality, in contrast to the realism of the knight and horse, while the lance divides the surface into two.
I have deliberately made it highly charged and busy and have left very little empty space to make the reverse as engaging as possible.”
The obverse retains the strong and realistic portrait of Her Majesty The Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS.
This coin has been struck to Brilliant Uncirculated quality, however on the packaging it may incorrectly state that the coin is of bullion quality.