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What Is The Waterloo Medal?
The Waterloo Medal was commissioned to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815 in modern Belgium. The battle marked the culmination of the Napoleonic Wars, with a coalition including the United Kingdom winning a close-run victory over Napoleon Bonaparte's forces.
The Waterloo Medal was designed by a fiery Italian artist, Benedetto Pistrucci, who is best known for creating the St George and dragon design used on gold Sovereigns. Pistrucci took decades to complete the commemorative medal, which was never struck in his lifetime. Despite this, numismatists describe its intricate, allegorical engravings as some of the most impressive ever designed in Britain.
Pistrucci's Waterloo Medal should not be confused with the medal awarded to soldiers and officers who took part in the battle. The enormous 130-millimetre medal was intended to be given to dignitaries, including the allied leaders who are shown on the reverse. The obverse features the two victorious generals, the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshall Graf von Blücher, as well as a range of classical figures.
Read more: The Waterloo Medal: Benedetto Pistrucci's Last Masterpiece
The Great Engravers Collection
The Great Engravers series is a premium coin collection from the UK's national mint. These coins feature remastered versions of some of the most beautiful designs from British coinage history. Combining high-tech imaging equipment with traditional hand engraving, The Royal Mint's team have produced new coins that closely replicate rare originals.
Great Engravers coins are available to a select group of collectors in both 24-carat gold and 999 silver. They come in a range of different sizes, including some of the largest coins ever made in the United Kingdom. Every Great Engravers coin is UK legal tender and features a portrait of the reigning monarch on the obverse.
Initially, The Great Engravers collection exclusively focused on masterpieces by William Wyon but 2023 marked a change with a new release inspired by the work of 17th-century engraver, Thomas Simon. Subsequent issues have profiled the work of Benedetto Pistrucci, starting with his St George and the dragon design, struck on 2024-dated coins.
Royal Mint Waterloo Medal Release
The Waterloo Medal is the second design attributed to Pistrucci to be re-created for The Great Engravers series.
The Royal Mint has chosen to strike the design across two coins, with the obverse design featuring on a collection of 2024-dated coins and the reverse issued in 2025, 210 years since the Battle of Waterloo. This is the same approach employed with the Gothic Crown where the obverse and reverse were split into two releases.
- 2024 Waterloo Medal - Allied Leaders (obverse)
- 2025 Waterloo Medal - Victory (reverse)
The range of finishes available mirrors previous releases in The Great Engravers collection, with coins ranging from a 2oz silver proof coin to an enormous 5kg gold proof piece. The 1kg silver proof coins in the Waterloo Medal are distinguished by a matt finish, which has not been used on previous kilo issues in the Great Engravers collection.
Mintage figures for Waterloo Medal coins are notably low, following the trend of gradually decreasing issue limits from The Royal Mint seen in the 2024 Saint George and the Dragon release.
2024 Waterloo Medal Allied Leaders Obverse
The obverse of the Waterloo Medal features left-facing portraits of the four major Allied leaders who faced off against Napoleon in 1815. From left to right, the profile busts shows:
- George, Prince Regent, later King George IV
- Emperor Francis I of Austria
- Tsar Alexander I of Russia
- King Frederick William III of Prussia
Around the edge is an intricate and mysterious design featuring figures from Greek and Roman mythology including Apollo driving a chariot, as well as the Fates and the Furies in a complicated allegory celebrating the momentous victory.
The obverse of 2024 Waterloo Allied Leaders coins shows Martin Jennings' portrait of King Charles III, with a legend around it reading 'CHARLES III · D · G · REX · F · D ·', followed by the date and the denomination.
Victory - 2025 Waterloo Medal Reverse
The second Waterloo Medal coin from The Royal Mint—subtitled 'Victory'—recreates the reverse of the original medal, which centres on two men mounted on horseback, their mounts led by the winged figure of Victory.
Numismatists identify these two figures as Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and Field Marshal Prince Gebhard von Blücher, who commanded British-led and Prussian units during the Battle of Waterloo.
Above Wellington and Blucher is Jupiter, king of the Gods, driving his quadriga. Around the edge tumble nineteen giants with serpentine legs, who Jupiter has struck down, representing every year of the Napoleonic Wars.
The obverse of these coins are dated 2025 and also feature Martin Jennings' uncrowned portrait of King Charles III.
