Crown Pattern 1817 The Three Graces, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The British Crown coin, the successor to the English Crown and the Scottish Dollar, came into being with the Union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland in 1707. As with the English coin, the value of the denomination was five shillings, or sixty pence.

Always a heavy silver coin weighing about one ounce, during the 19th and 20th centuries the Crown declined from being a real means of exchange to being a coin rarely spent and minted for commemorative purposes only. In that format it has continued to be minted, even following decimalisation of the British currency in 1971.

From time to time, some patterns were considered but not approved for actual minting and release into circulation, such as this one.

Created by the renowned engraver, William Wyon, early in his decorated career with the Royal Mint, the coin known as The Three Graces is a pattern for a Crown denomination produced late in the reign of King George III; it was never circulated but has earned a reputation for its attractive and symbolic reverse.

The Three Graces was struck in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo and the effective end of the Napoleonic wars. While the national mood was initially jubilant, decades of military and economic conflict had created fiscal troubles that could not be ignored. The British government desperately needed to stabilise the currency. The first step in this process was the Coinage Act of 1816; the law reintroduced silver coins and replaced the guinea (valued at 21 shillings) with a new gold sovereign (slightly lighter and valued at 20 shillings). This major turning point in monetary policy meant upheaval at the Royal Mint, then under Master of the Mint, William Wellesley-Pole. New coins would be needed fast and for their designs Wellesley-Pole turned to the circle of designers and engravers that included William Wyon.

The art world that Wyon was establishing himself in was dominated by neoclassicism. Its proponents were influenced by stories of Ancient Greece and Rome and the simple, symmetrical style they saw in artefacts, engravings and on their Grand Tours of Europe.

Only around 50 coins with the Three Graces pattern were ever struck, and only a few of those survive. One of three known gold specimens is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A silver example remained in the possession of the Wyon family, only coming to the market in 1962.