Autograph note signed by Chief Engraver Royal Mint William Wyon dated 1843

WYON, William (1795–1851). Autograph note signed, to J. Murray, declining an invitation.
Her Majesty’s Mint, 3 January 1843.

Autograph note signed by William Wyon, 1 page, 90 × 110 mm, written in ink on a small sheet of cream paper, embossed Mint crest at upper left. Old mounting traces on verso at corners (four areas of abrasion and toning), a couple of light surface marks, but the text clean and fully legible. Very good.
 
A short note from William Wyon, Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 and one of the most important medallic artists of the nineteenth century. Writing from the Mint, he apologises for being “engaged at the Royal Academy every evening this month”, but agrees to attend Murray’s dinner party the following Wednesday “with great pleasure… if I can be with you before 9 o’clock.” Quite plausibly he was writing to John Murray the publisher. 
 
Wyon’s work defined the numismatic portraiture of early Victorian Britain: he engraved the celebrated “Young Head” of Queen Victoria used on British coinage for nearly fifty years, and executed major medals for the Royal Academy, the Great Exhibition, and numerous scientific and artistic institutions. Autograph material is not common, particularly with Mint association.