1825 George IV Sovereign (Laureate Head)

George IV is a fascinating character in British royal history, famous for having an extravagant lifestyle and large ego. The coinage of his reign reveals a vain king who liked to be portrayed as young, handsome and slim, in contrast to the images created by the cartoonists of the king's time who painted him as gluttonous and overweight.

George IV went outside of the normal Royal Mint process and insisted that a new, more flattering portrait for coinage was commissioned. Therefore, his Sovereigns have two different portraits – the 'Laureate Head' by Benedetto Pistrucci, which was used from 1821 to 1825, and the 'Bare Head' by William Wyon from 1825 to 1830. Most 1825 Sovereigns feature the ‘Bare Head’ making this ‘Laureate Head’ Sovereign exceedingly rare and highly collectable.