Information about effigy: Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head)

Laureate head of King George III facing right; hair short; the tie has a loop and two hanging ends; the King's neck is bare.

Designed by Benedetto Pistrucci.

The massive recoinage programme by the Royal Mint in 1806 necessitated a new effigy of the monarch. Pistrucci's initial portrait of King George III has become known to collectors as the "bull-head George". He could not engrave it from life since King George III was insane. The design met such public hostility that it was withdrawn and replaced with this one.