St George and the dragon

Paintings and sculptures of the heroic act, representing the triumph of good over evil, are to be found from medieval times but in 1817 a design was prepared for the British coinage that has become the classic depiction of St George and the dragon. Benedetto Pistrucci’s St George and the dragon was created for the gold sovereign of 1817, deliberately intended to make the coin as distinctive as possible.

The design was amended and improved for silver crown pieces released the following year, and won instant praise as a masterpiece of numismatic art. It is this St George that has become a defining design on the British coinage for almost 200 years.

St George made his appearance on English coins on George nobles issued during the reign of Henry VIII.

During the first half of the 19th century the Royal Mint was blessed with the prodigious talents not just of Pistrucci but also of his colleague and rival William Wyon. In a short but brilliant career Wyon was responsible for an accomplished array of coins and medals.

If Pistrucci’s best known coinage design was his St George, for Wyon it was his Young Head portrait of Queen Victoria.

His interpretation of St George was commissioned by Prince Albert for a medal and its movement and vitality reveal an artist of exceptional ability.

St George slaying the dragon has had a life on the coinage beyond the direct influence of Pistrucci. The Italian artist may have cast a long shadow but this did not prevent Percy Metcalfe from creating a St George that unmistakably belongs to the 20th century.
Struck to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of George V, the crown piece of 1935 provided Metcalfe with a handsome canvas on which to display his stylised St George dressed in full armour.

The portrait of Metcalfe’s St George bears a remarkable resemblance to the artist himself.

The George Cross is the highest civilian gallantry award and has at its centre Pistrucci’s St George as adapted by Percy Metcalfe.

Metcalfe also designed the Irish Free State coinage of the 1920s which is widely regarded as the ground-breaking coinage of the 20th century.

As the patron saint of England, St George has appeared on coins and official medals, as well as on banknotes and other symbols of the State.
He is also an important figure for a number of European countries. Long before Pistrucci had the idea to use St George on the British coinage, the saint had appeared on Italian and German coins.

St George is also found depicted in paintings, and as the subject of iconography throughout the Mediterranean. Coins of the German States from the 1670s and from Italian States in the 18th century showed representations of St George and the dragon.

The sculptor and engraver Cecil Thomas prepared this exquisite punch of St George.

The heraldic artist George Kruger Gray prepared a St George in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee crown, which narrowly lost out to Percy Metcalfe’s version.