Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); St. George and the Dragon (reverse)
after Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1784–1855)
designed by Joseph Boehm (British, 1834–1890)
1887
- Medium
- gold
- Classification
- Coins
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)
- Culture
- England, Victoria, 1837-1901
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- The Norweb Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
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 Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.
