The London Mint Office Official Magazine

In 1817, Benedetto Pistrucci’s remarkable Saint George and the Dragon design helped secure the sovereign a reputation as one of the most recognizable coins in the world. Now, history has been made as, for the first time in two hundred years, a new sovereign design has been created by a Pistrucci family member.

Tucked close to the coast amid the canals and rivers of Flanders in western Belgium, the town of Ypres was already long acquainted with conflict by the time of the Great War. Over the centuries, this ancient textile town had been besieged, occupied and conquered by various forces seeking to control its strategically vital routes to the sea.

As the blitz brought a new kind of war to Britain, a new kind of award was needed to honour those civilians who showed ‘conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger’. Now, over 75 years on, many men and women, and even a whole country, have seen their acts of gallantry recognised by the award of the George Cross or George Medal.