1 medal : silver

Obverse: Laureate draped cuirassed bust of the King left. GEORGIVS . II . D . G . MAG . BR . FR . ET . HIB . REX.

Reverse: The King seated on King Edward's chair right, holding the sceptre and orb, being crowned by Britannia holding a cornucopia and leaning on the fasces. VOLENTES . PER . POPULOS. In exergue: CORON . XI . OCTOB . / MDCCXXVII.

This medal was distributed at public expense during the Coronation ceremony on 22 October (ns), and was issued in gold, silver and copper. The reverse shows the King, seated on King Edward III’s throne and holding the orb and sceptre, being crowned by Britannia, with the motto VOLENTES PER POPULOS (by a willing people), designed specifically to indicate a peaceful succession. The peaceful crowning of a second Hanoverian monarch, in direct succession from the first, indicated the growing solidity of the new royal house in Great Britain. The coronation took place at Westminster Abbey, and Handel’s anthem Zadok the Priest was first sung on this occasion (see pp. 381–2). It has been sung at every subsequent coronation, traditionally during the anointing.

Text adapted from The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014.