Jean Baptiste Merlen

Place: Anvers

Born: 1769

Death: 1850

Biography:

Jean Baptiste Merlen was a French engraver and medallist. He was born in Anvers, Belgium in 1769 and died in 1850. Merlen began work at the Paris Mint, where he was responsible for designing the medal which celebrated Napoleon's coronation as Emperor in 1804. In 1815, after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Merlen left France and moved to London where he searched for work eventually being offered a post at the Royal Mint from February 1820. His most famous work was the obverse portrait of George IV from 1823 of the gold double sovereign, after an original work by Sir Francis Chantrey. Merlen's effigy is also notable for being the first to show a male monarch bareheaded, i.e. without a crown or hat.