Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint and the leading medallist of his time, William Wyon RA (1795-1851) produced some of the best known and most widely distributed images ever made. His portraits of the young Queen Victoria on the coinage, used throughout the British empire, and the more regal head used for the first postage stamps, the penny red and two penny blue, were reproduced in their millions and distributed all around the globe. A highly regarded modeller in low relief, known and admired for the classical purity of his compositions and the accomplishment of their execution, Wyon was celebrated as a British artist who more than rivalled his continental competitors, favored by royalty and by many of the most prominent and influential figures of his time. The book aims to understand how and why Wyon's work was commissioned and how it was received, using institutional archives, contemporary correspondence, and reminiscence, and the popular press, to create a rounded picture of the life
