Who Was Royal Mint Engraver Jean Baptiste Merlen?

If you've ever handled a Victorian 'shield-back' Sovereign, you've encountered the work of Jean Baptiste Merlen. His work is indelibly linked to the history of these gold coins and also to the story of Maundy Money.

It appears that this lesser-known 19th-century engraver's work will soon feature on the 2025 Sovereign, due to be released soon by The Royal Mint.

While we wait for more information, we're looking into Merlen's background, his most famous coins and the design of the 2025 Sovereign.

Who Was Jean Baptiste Merlen?

Jean Baptiste Merlen was a French engraver and medallist born in 1769. Sources suggest that he learned his trade in Brussels. 

That he was later an employee of the Paris Mint is indicated by his medals and jetons, including a signed 1804 medal commemorating the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte, showing the Emperor borne on a shield by four warriors. Another medal celebrates Napoleon's return from the island of Elba in 1815.

After the hundred days and Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Merlen looked elsewhere for work, following in the footsteps of his future colleague, Benedetto Pistrucci, who had crossed the channel within months of the Allied victory.

In February 1820, Merlen was appointed Pistrucci's assistant at the Royal Mint, likely on the Italian artist's recommendation. As a foreign national, Merlen was not entitled to a full-time post at the mint, a fact circumvented by offering him a weekly rate of four Guineas rather than an annual salary.

Merlen arrived at the Royal Mint in the aftermath of a reorganisation of British money, known as the Great Recoinage, overseen by Master of the Mint, William Wellesley-Pole, brother of the Duke of Wellington. Creating designs for the new coinage had proved a complicated process, fraught with tensions between the fiery Pistrucci, who was Pole's appointment, and William Wyon, a Birmingham-born engraver from a noted family of medallists.

Read more: William Wyon (1795-1851): A Royal Mint Great Engraver

Coinage Portrait Of George IV

Among Merlen's earliest works for the Royal Mint was the design for the reverse of the 1820 Halfcrown. These coins feature a distinctive crowned shield of royal arms, surrounded by national flowers: a rose, a thistle and shamrocks. Merlen's design was paired with Pistrucci's laureate head of George IV.

The 1820 Halfcrown shows Benedetto Pistrucci's laureate portrait of George IV on the obverse, paired with Jean Baptiste Merlen's armourial design to the reverse.

The King took a strong dislike to Pistrucci's florid coinage effigy. A new head was commissioned for the 1823 Double Sovereign, to be based on a bust completed by leading sculptor Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey.

Pistrucci, however, refused to copy the work of another artist and refused the job, leading to Merlen completing his only obverse for British coinage; a left-facing bare-headed bust used only on the 1823 Two Pounds.

Someone clearly was not satisfied with Merlen's attempt either. Later issues from the reign of George IV use a similar but more flattering portrait created by William Wyon. Wyon would go on to model William IV's coinage portrait and the enduring 'Young Head' bust of his successor, Queen Victoria.

Merlen's work reverse engravings was clearly better received. His designs grace the majority of George IV's coinage and have gained a lasting place on British money.

Classic Maundy Money Design

Among Merlen's most recognisable engravings are the designs created for George IV's Maundy Money. These coins are presented to elderly recipients as part of an official royal ceremony that dates back to the 13th century.

Merlen was responsible for the updated design for silver Maundy Fourpence, Threepence, Twopence and Penny coins, introduced in 1822. These coins feature a reverse with a crowned central numeral surrounded by a wreath of English oak leaves tied at the bottom of the coin with a ribbon. The date appears divided by the central number.

Merlen's straightforward but much-loved motif has been used for the Maundy Money of every subsequent British monarch, with only the date changed.

Read more: What Are Royal Maundy Coins? Complete Guide To Maundy Money

Jean Baptiste Merlen's crowned wreath design is seen here on an attractively toned set of 1900 Maundy Money, issued late in the reign of Queen Victoria.

A similar design, also by Merlen, was used on British Shillings and Sixpences for nearly a century. From the reign of William IV through to the time of Edward VII, these coins featured the denomination in the centre of the reverse, surmounted by a crown and surrounded by a wreath of olive and oak branches. Comparable wreath designs can be seen on a range of 19th century European currency which likely inspired Merlen.

1839 Victorian silver Shilling, displaying Jean Baptiste Merlen's instantly-recognisable reverse design which was also used on Sixpences. Credit: RWB Auctions.

Merlen's Shield-Back Sovereigns

Merlen's reverse designs are also a mainstay of nineteenth-century British gold coinage, beginning in the mid-1820s.

For decades, Merlen's work entirely replaces Pistrucci's St George and the dragon motif, so closely associated with the Sovereign today. His designs for the Sovereign series - including Two Pounds, 'full' Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns - are variations on the armourial theme, with crowned, garnished and mantled shields of royal arms seen on the reverse of issues made in the reigns of George IV, William IV and Victoria. 

Two important Sovereign shield designs by Merlen are worth a closer look.

The first is the shield seen on George IV Sovereigns, minted from 1825 until the end of this King's reign. This is a garnished shield, meaning it's surrounded by decorative flourishes. The shield displays the royal arms of the United Kingdom, representing England, Scotland and Ireland, with the arms of the House of Hanover inescutcheon (in the centre). The words 'BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF:'('King of the Britons, Defender of the Faith) are shown around the central design. A variant of this design can also be seen on later George IV Half Sovereigns, minted from 1826.

All Sovereigns minted during William IV's short reign feature shield engravings by Merlen, but the early Sovereigns of Queen Victoria perhaps display his most iconic work on gold coinage.

Between Victoria's coronation in 1838 and 1887, the majority of gold Sovereigns struck in London and at the colonial branch mints feature a reverse design by Merlen. This highly-recognisable engraving centres on a crowned and quartered shield of royal arms, featuring the three lions of England, the Scottish lion rampant and the Irish harp. This is surrounded by an elegant wreath of olive branches with a tiny cluster of national flowers below. The legend reads 'BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:' with the date and William Wyon's portrait of Victoria shown on the obverse. Another Merlen shield, similar to the garnished shield from George IV's reign features on Victorian Half Sovereigns through until the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.

We call Sovereigns from this period 'shield backs' because of Merlen's distinctive reverse.

Jean Baptiste Merlen's shield design for George IV Sovereigns (left), compared with his shield and wreath design for Victorian gold coins (right).

A Lasting Legacy On British Coins

Merlen's design for Victoria's Sovereigns was one of his final creations.

He retired from the Mint in 1844 at the age of 75, possibly returning to Paris or Brussels before his death in 1850.

Merlen's work is soon set to return to British gold coins with the upcoming release of the 2025 Sovereign. The majority of coins in the 2025 Sovereign family will feature Merlen's 1825 George IV Sovereign reverse design together with an inscription that reads 'ARMA GEORGII IV BRITANNIARUM REGIS'. Other coins in the 2025 Sovereign family apparently feature Benedetto Pistrucci's Saint George.

This is a welcome return for an underappreciated engraver who deserves credit for his role in creating some of the most enduring coinage designs of the last 200 years.

Release dates and mintage figures have yet to be announced, but we'll let you know when we have more information.

Do you have any coins designed by Jean Baptiste Merlen in your collection?

Shop the collection: 2025 Sovereigns