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The Young Head coinage were the issues of British coins with a bust of Queen Victoria by William Wyon, first struck in 1838 while Victoria was still a teenager. The bust remained on some denominations of British coins until 1887, by which time she was almost 70 years of age and had long since ceased to resemble her portrayal. Wyon’s bust of Victoria also appeared on coinage for the Isle of Man, colonial issues.

In 1887, it was replaced on the remaining denominations that still bore it by the Jubilee coinage.

King William IV died on 20 June 1837, and the throne went to his niece, Victoria. This meant that a new coinage would be prepared, depicting the young queen (she was 18 at the time of her accession).
The new coinage was designed at a time when the chief engraver, William Wyon, focused on the side of the coin bearing the monarch’s portrait, while the second engraver worked on the other side. Jean Baptiste Merlen‘s formal job was as a temporary extra engraver, for he was, like the chief medallist, Benedetto Pistrucci, a foreigner ineligible by statute for the permanent salaried positions at the Royal Mint. Merlen in practice acted as second engraver, and that position was held vacant until after his retirement in 1844.

Victoria sat for Wyon at Windsor Castle on 25 August 1837, two months after she became queen, then again the following day and again two days after that. Victoria sat again for him on the 15 and 16 September, enabling him to complete the coinage portrait, which is similar to the medal he had prepared to commemorate her accession. Pistrucci was also granted sittings; Wyon was to design the coinage and Pistrucci the coronation medal. There was a bitter rivalry between the two at the Royal Mint, and each had his partisans.

The new coinage was subject to several delays. Pistrucci was accused by a Wyon supporter (likely Nicholas Carlisle) of ordering Royal Mint employees to work on the coronation medal who should have been at work on the new coinage. Merlen, who engraved the reverses of the precious metal coins (the coppers were engraved by Wyon), was slow to complete his work, and did finish the work until 1839. Then, there were production difficulties in the Royal Mint, with dies breaking before they struck an adequate number of coins, causing Wyon to visit the Monnaie de Paris at his own expense to see if the French could be of help. He found them hospitable (the Royal Mint had granted wide access to a party of French officials some years previously), and he was given an audience with King Louis Phillippe, but the visit did not seem to have solved the problems.

Wyon was able use a single portrait of Victoria for all denominations by use of a reducing machine, which the Royal Mint had purchased in 1824, a duplicate of one Pistrucci had obtained for himself.

The Young Head coinage depicts a portrait of Victoria facing left, her hair bound by a double fillet and tied in a knot, from which a loose curl escapes. The coin design is a development of the medals Wyon had prepared for Victoria’s accession and for the visit of Prince Henry of the Netherlands to the Royal Mint, all look back to Antonio Canova‘s Fountain Nymph. The numismatist Lawrence W. Cobb described it as a “classic portrait of Victoria … the head of a lovely young girl … the celebrated ‘Young Head’ design, which was destined to grace British and Empire coinage for decades and would inspire many imitations, both good and bad.” Cobb cited the description of the issue by Stack’s auction house, that Wyon had managed to “catch her spontaneous youthful charm and at the same time create an excellent likeness”. According to the Royal Mint Museum, of Wyon’s portraits of Victoria, that “approved for the coinage in 1838 undoubtedly takes pride of place. Wyon was clearly inspired by his admiration of the neo-classical style of his mentor John Flaxman to create an uncluttered and well-balanced portrait.^[12]

Kevin Clancy, in his volume on the history of the sovereign coin, stated that Wyon’s “portrait transformed a monarch, not known for her beauty, into an attractive young woman. It is hardly surprising he became a favourite, and that his Young Head portrait was retained until Victoria was in her late 60s.” André Celtel and Svein H. Gullbekk, in their own volume on the sovereign, state that “the beautiful features of this simple and uncluttered portrait flatter the queen, who was a grandmother in her late sixties before she allowed it to disappear from the coinage.” Wyon’s initials appear on the truncation of the bust on coins larger than the sixpence.

The only five pound piece of the Young Head series was dated 1839. The numismatist Richard Lobel deems it one of the most famous and attractive of all British coins. This piece, known as the Una and the Lion coin, is described by him as having “cult status”. The Royal Mint states of this coin, “The gold five-pound piece of 1839, though not as spectacularly rare as the Edward VIII pattern coins, is arguably one of the most beautiful coins in the world.”^[17]
The symbolism on the coinage had been adapted to male monarchs, and something was needed to replace Pistrucci’s Saint George and the dragon reverse for the five-pound coin. Wyon’s Una and the Lion coin was the result. Una and the Lion appear in Edmund Spenser‘s 16th century epic The Faerie Queene. The obverse shows the Young Head of the Queen, facing left, while the reverse shows her as Una leading the lion to the left. These coins did not circulate, were struck on demand and were sold by the Royal Mint until 1886; there are a number of varieties and a total mintage of perhaps 400. A specimen in exceptional condition sold in 2021 for US$1.44 million (£1.04 million).

The other gold coins struck with the Young Head are the sovereign and half sovereign; both initially depicted the royal arms on the reverse. The royal arms as depicted on the coinage represent a change from earlier reigns as they omit the arms of Hanover—under Salic law, women could not inherit the throne of Hanover, and thus on King William’s death, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, Victoria’s uncle, became King of Hanover.cn The arms are surrounded by a laurel wreath; beneath it, a shamrock and a thistle are threaded through a rose, symbolic of Ireland, Scotland and England. These arms were used on the half sovereign throughout the Young Head’s time, and on the sovereign until 1874—Pistrucci’s Saint George and the Dragon reverse was reintroduced in 1871 by the new deputy master of the Royal Mint, Charles William Fremantle, who disliked the shield reverse.^[22] Pistrucci’s reverse was used for all Young Head sovereigns after 1874, except those struck at the Australian mints, where both types were struck until 1887. Many of the shield-back coins were sent to India, where they may have been preferred to the ones with Pistrucci’s reverse.

The other denominations bearing a wreathed shield were the crown (only struck with the Young Head for circulation in 1844, 1845 and 1847), and the half crown. The shilling and sixpence bore statements of its denomination, a continuation of the designs, by Merlen, under Victoria’s predecessor, William IV, and the first time the denomination was stated on the reverse of an English or British coin. The fourpence also continued its design, featuring Britannia that it had borne since its introduction in 1836. It was discontinued for circulation in 1855, recognizing the rise of the silver threepence, bearing the same design as the Maundy threepence. It was struck with Wyon’s bust of Victoria from 1838 for colonial use, and beginning in 1845 for use in the United Kingdom.

The penny, halfpenny, farthing and third farthing were given a depiction of Britannia, by Wyon, similar to the ones those coins bore under King William, and near-identical to the ones introduced in the mid 1820s under William’s brother and predecessor, George IV. One detail that was translated to Merlen’s reverse for the crown from Wyon’s copper coinage was the intertwined rose, shamrock and thistle; it had appeared on Wyon’s copper coinage for King George.

The first Young Head coins to be released were dated 1838, with sovereigns, half sovereigns, half crowns, shillings, sixpences, pennies, halfpennies, and Maundy money. The shilling was first available 11 August 1838 in limited quantities, and was said to bear “an exceedingly handsome profile of her Majesty, by Wyon”, with the new coin expected to be quickly generally available.^[32] Nevertheless, it was not until January and February 1841 that the coppers entered circulation in any quantity; not much precious metal coinage was struck until the middle of the following year. When the coppers were made available, a correspondent for The Athenaeum wrote of the pennies that they were

The work of Mr. W. Wyon, the chief engraver, and display the same grace and skill in execution which characterize his productions, Here, however, all commendation must cease. In all other respects, I can only speak of this coin in terms of disapprobation. First, as to the quality of the metal: it is so ill-prepared, that upon very many of the pieces the surface has broken up in flakes. Secondly, as to the striking: I have not seen a single piece which is what is technically called well struck up.^[34]

The Kendal Mercury, though, stated on 23 January 1841, “a beautiful specimen of new coins has been issued from the Mint, consisting of penny pieces … on one side is a most excellent medallion likeness of her present Majesty, richly and elaborately finished … the finish of the coins produced … cannot be excelled in the most valuable materials.” The Scotsman called the penny “very handsome” and Wyon’s portrait “beautifully executed”. Not everyone considered the portrait to be successful and The Times considered it inaccurate.^[22]

The Art Journal stated that the Una and the Lion coin ‘”for chastity of design and beauty of execution, far exceeds anything that has hitherto issued from Her Majesty’s Mint”. Seaby deemed it “this famous coin designed by William Wyon”.

No double sovereign was issued with the Young Head obverse. The sovereign and half sovereign, though, were issued almost every year from 1838 to 1887, bearing the Young Head, over a third of a century after Wyon’s death in 1851. The crown was struck in small numbers only, not for the general public; according to a Wyon obituarist, the Company of Moneyers, who then farmed the Royal Mint, refused a general issue that would require extra care lest their profits be diminished.

The florin was introduced in 1849, but never bore the Young Head, instead depicting a Gothic-style bust of Victoria designed by Wyon. After the issuance of the florin, the half crown, to which it was close in size and value, was not coined for a quarter-century, to give the new coin a fair start. In 1874, enquiries through the banks showed that each coin had strong partisans, and striking of the half crown was resumed.
Besides the threepence,, other coins struck for colonial use that bear the Young Head bust of Victoria include the silver twopence, struck mainly for use in British Guiana in 1838, 1843 and 1848. The three halfpence, a small silver coin with a reverse by Merlen, was intended for use in Ceylon and the West Indies and struck with the Young Head between 1838 and 1870; its resemblance to British coinage has caused it to be catalogued amongst British coins. The copper half farthing was struck with the dies made for the Maundy fourpence. It had been first struck in 1828 and with the Young Head from 1839, and was intended for Ceylon, but was made current in Britain in 1842, despite comments that very little could be bought with one. It never came into general circulation in Britain, and was discontinued after 1856, though ones dated 1868 are known, possibly in preparation for a proposed issue for Jamaica. The third farthing, intended for Malta, was issued with the Young Head only in 1844; by the time it was issued again in 1866, it was with a head of Victoria designed by Wyon’s son, Leonard Charles Wyon. The quarter farthing, intended for Ceylon (where it had more purchasing power) was struck in 1839, 1851, 1852, 1853 and 1868, the last possibly preparation for an issue for Jamaica.

Beginning in 1860, the old copper coinage was replaced by bronze pieces, The new coins were given a bust of Victoria by Leonard Charles Wyon (known as the Bun penny) and the old pennies, halfpennies, farthings and half farthings were demonitised at the end of 1869.

By the 1880s, the sovereign, half sovereign, half crown, shilling, sixpence, threepence and Maundy coinage were still struck with the Young Head, though minor changes to it had been made with the years. It remained on the coinage because Victoria liked it.

Imitations of the Young Head design were circulated as early as 1840, with currency tokens for Nova Scotia. A somewhat distorted version in lower relief was issued for India in 1841 and 1842; Wyon was called upon to make revisions of them in 1849, and the new issues of coins bore the same dates as the old. The obverse dies for the farthing, halfpenny and penny were used to make coins for the Isle of Man, with a reverse design for the island by Merlen, and the half farthing, farthing and halfpenny obverses were placed on coinage for Gibraltar in 1842. The penny and halfpenny issued by the colony of New Brunswick in 1854 feature the Young Head on one side, transferred from the British halfpenny and shilling respectively by Wyon’s son Leonard. The original Australian sovereign, issued in 1854 and 1855, bears a portrait very close to the Young Head, engraved by Wyon’s relative James Wyon. Another depiction by William Wyon of the youthful Victoria, but wearing a diadem, was first used on the 1837 medal marking the Queen’s visit to the London Guildhall, but was reused on many coins and medals, and was the basis for the Penny Black, the first adhesive postage stamp.

Imitations of the Young Head design appeared on private issues of tokens as well, such as the so-called “To Hanover” or “Cumberland Jack” tokens, which on their other side bore an image representing the unpopular King Ernest skulking off to his Hanoverian domains, but which remained popular as gaming tokens long after they were no longer topical, and were sometimes passed as sovereigns. They were made illegal in 1883.^[51]

In 1897, when Thomas Brock was preparing the medal for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, he used Wyon’s Young Head on one side of the medal with his own Veiled head of Victoria on the other. The medal was engraved by George William de Saulles.^[53]

In 2019, the Royal Mint began a Great Engravers series, reproducing classic designs. First in the series was the Una and the Lion reverse, with an obverse by Jody Clark of Queen Elizabeth II. The coin was issued both in silver and in gold, in denominations as high as £5,000, with that coin containing five kilograms of fine gold. Although more of the smaller denominations were sold, only one of the £5,000 piece was sold. The Una and the Lion design has also been reproduced on coins of Gibraltar, Alderney and Saint Helena.

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• Celtel, André; Gullbekk, Svein H. (2006). The Sovereign and its Golden Antecedents. Monetarius. ISBN 978-82-996755-6-7.
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