Five pounds (British gold coin)

The five guineas gold coin started out life as a five-pound coin before the fluctuating value of the guinea eventually settled at twenty-one shillings; therefore it is arguable that the five pounds piece issued after the Great Recoinage of 1816 is merely a continuation of the earlier value. However, the £5 coin tends to have a more modern 'feel' and so is normally considered separately.

The coin was normally issued in cased "proof" condition, and rarely circulated, as well as being issued in small quantities which today often result in extremely high values of many tens of thousands of pounds being achieved when a coin appears at auction. The normal weight of the denomination was 40 grams.

The first appearance of the denomination was in the reign of George III, when it was produced in 1820 as a pattern. The obverse shows the right-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIUS III D. G. BRITANNIAR. REX F.D. date, while the reverse shows Benedetto Pistrucci's now famous St. George and dragon design with no legend. The edge is inscribed on the normal version, but plain on the proof version.

The next appearance of the denomination was in the reign of George IV, when it was produced in 1826 and 1829. The obverse shows the left-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA date, while the reverse shows a crowned shield within a mantle cape with the legend BRITANNIARUM REX FID DEF. The 1826 coin has the edge inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI SEPTIMO, while the 1829 coin has a plain edge.

The next coin of this value did not appear until early in the reign of Queen Victoria, when one of the most famous and attractive of all British coins was produced, colloquially known as the Una and the Lion coin. Una and the Lion are characters in Spenser's The Faerie Queene, this five pounds piece has acquired a cult significance among collectors: the obverse shows the young head of the Queen, facing left with the legend VICTORIA D G BRITANNIARUM REGINA F D, while the reverse shows Queen Victoria as Una leading the lion to the left, with the legend DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS – May the Lord direct my steps (some coins say DIRIGIT instead of DIRIGE – The Lord directs my steps) – with the date MDCCCXXXIX in the exergue under the lion. The edge may either have the inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI TERTIO or be plain. This issue is the lightest of all the £5 coins, weighing only 38.7–39.3 grams.

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Wikipedia