THE 1816 ROYAL MINT COMPETITION

George Mills was a medalist who is best known for his medal engravings as part of James Mudie's series of national medals. Mudie's medals were created by Mills and others to celebrate the British victories over the French and Napoleon. Mills is also known for his excellent British crown patterns that he made at the request of Mudie and Richard Whiteaves.

The image is of a petition, or more commonly referred to as a pattern, Guinea that was made, in copper, by Mills. Mills submitted the Guinea to the 1816 Royal Mint competition for the position of second engraver. Mills at the time was working at the SOHO mint in Birmingham England under the supervision of Mathew (Matt) Boulton.

The Master of the Royal Mint at the time of the competition was William Wellesley Pole. Pole wanted a competition to select a second engraver. Thomas Wyon was Pole's chief engraver at the mint. When William Wyon expressed an interest in the second engraver position, Pole told William not to submit or apply for the position as he already had too many Wyons working for him at the mint. Pole selected Sir Thomas Lawerence, a well known English portrait painter, to oversee and judge the competition.

William Wyon secretly submitted an entry to the competition, also a pattern Guinea, against the expressed wishes of Pole. Sir Lawerence chose Wyon's submission as the winner of the competition and Wyon became the second engraver. Wyon went on to become one of England's greatest engravers. Mills on the other hand died in his early thirties and never achieved his full potential or recognition.

After conducting a significant amount of research, I believe the below coin is unique and is the one Mills submitted for the 1816 competition. I further believe it was a part of Edward Hawkins' personal collection. Hawkins was the Keeper of Antiquities for the British Museum and a numismatic author. Hawkins wrote about this coin in his papers. Mills' Guinea which was owned by Hawkins was sold at auction shortly after Hawkins' death. This coin is mentioned in Wilson and Rasmussen's book on "English Pattern Trial and Proof Coins in Gold, 1547-1968", where it is listed as of the highest rarity. It is also listed and imaged in Roderick Farey's "A Guidebook to the Guinea 1663 to 1813".

The .C. below the bust of King George III, is to denote that the likeness is after, or based upon, Sir Francis Chantrey's sculpture of the king.

Mills went on to win three gold medals from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) between 1817 and 1823 for his engraving of medals. One of his winning submissions, the Vulcan medal, was adopted by the RSA as one of their gold medal for excellence. Mills competed against both Thomas and William Wyon, among others, during the Royal Academy exhibitions where he won the three RSA gold medals.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
1820 PATTERN FIVE POUNDS GOLD COIN (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n34a30.html)
COINS AS TALISMANS: SAINT GEORGE'S DAY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n17a10.html)
PISTRUCCI'S WATERLOO MEDAL (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a21.html)

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