George IV gold Two Pounds, 1823

Obverse - Bare head left, tiny J.B.M. below truncation for engraver Jean Baptiste Merlen, abbreviated Latin legend and toothed border surrounding

Reverse - St George and dragon right, W.W.P. below broken lance on ground-line for Mint Master William Wellesley Pole, date in exergue, initials B.P. to upper right of exergue for engraver Benedetto Pistrucci, edge engraved in raised letters,

The various initials that feature on the coin are for the engravers and Master of the Mint as shown above. William Wellesley Pole was the elder brother of the Duke of Wellington.

The gold output of £759,749 for the calendar year of 1823 is actually the lowest of the reign which is paradoxical as this is the only year where there are three currency denominations struck from Double-Sovereign to Half-Sovereign. The next lowest is 1828 with just over a million pounds of gold produced whereas all the other years of the reign range from £2.3million to £9.5million.

A mintage figure is not officially known for the gold double sovereign of 1823, but a rough indication can be perhaps be gleaned from looking closer at the gold output figure for 1823 which as mentioned above totals £759,749 of gold. If we then deduct the Sovereign figure produced of 616,770 as that is £616,770 worth, and then the Half-Sovereign mintage of 224,280 which equates to £112,140 worth, then we are left with £30,839 of gold output. Though this does not equate equally to gold Two Pound coins it may well indicate a maximum number of 15,419 pieces, though what was struck in a calendar year may not necessarily equate to a date on the coin.