Artheon MuseumArtheonMuseum

Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse)

Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse) by Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855)

Medium

gold

Dimensions

diam. 3.7 cm

Classification

Coins

Department

Medieval Art

Museum

Cleveland Museum of Art

Credit

The Norweb Collection

Accession Number

1969.219

Tags

male

About this artwork

The obverse design of this piece is usually known as the "Jubilee head," since 1887, the year of its production, was the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. By Sir Joseph Boehm, R.A., sculptor in ordinary to the queen, it caused a minor storm since it was said the tiny crown made the queen look ridiculous. The queen is said not to have liked the design herself, but she did in fact wear a small crown of this type when she began to find the full-size crown too heavy. The crown may be seen among the ...

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