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(Redirected from Gold sovereign)

Sovereign, 1558

British Gold Sovereign 2008

A Gold Sovereign is a gold coin first issued in 1489 for Henry VII of England and still in production as of 2009.[1] While the coin typically had a nominal value of one pound sterling or 20 shillings, the sovereign was primarily an official piece of bullion with no mark of value anywhere on the coin itself.

The name "sovereign" comes from the majestic and impressive size and portraiture of the coin, the earliest of which showed the king facing, seated on a throne, while the reverse shows the Royal coat of arms on a shield surrounded by a Tudor double rose.

Contents

1 History

2 Technical Specifications

3 Counterfeiting

4 Composition

5 Modern production

6 Production summary

7 "James Bond Money"

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

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History

Original sovereigns were 23 carat (96%) gold and weighed 240 grains or one-half of a troy ounce (15.6 grams). Henry VIII reduced the purity to 22 carats (92%), which eventually became and remains the gold coin standard (so-called crown gold) in both England and the U.S.; the weight of the sovereign was repeatedly lowered until when it was revived after the Great Recoinage[2] law of 1816, the gold content was fixed at the present 113 grains (7.322 g), equivalent to 0.2354 Troy ounces [3].

In addition to the sovereign, the Royal Mint also struck 10 shilling coins Half sovereigns, two pound double sovereigns, and five pound quintuple sovereigns coins. Only the sovereign and the half sovereign were commonly struck for circulation. In 2009, The Royal Mint released a new coin in sovereign series, a quarter-sovereign.

Sovereigns were discontinued after 1604, being replaced by Unites, and later by Laurels, and then guineas. Production of sovereigns restarted in 1817, their reverse design being a portrayal of Saint George killing a dragon, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci. This same design is still in use on British gold sovereigns, although other reverse designs have also been used during the reigns of William IV, Victoria, George IV, and Elizabeth II.

In Victorian times it was the practice of the Bank of England to remove worn sovereigns and half sovereigns from circulation and have them recoined. Consequently, although a billion sovereigns have been minted in total, that figure includes gold that has been coined and recoined a number of times. In addition, when coins were sent to places such as the United States for international payments between governments, coins were frequently melted down into gold bars because of the Federal regulations then in force. When gold coins were finally withdrawn from circulation in 1933 in the US, many thousands of British gold sovereigns were consigned to the melting pot in this way.

It is estimated that in circulation, a sovereign could have a lifespan of up to 15 years before it fell below the "least current weight", that is, the minimum amount of gold below which it ceased to be legal tender.[4] It was actually the half-sovereign that had the most circulation in Victorian England. Many sovereigns languished in bank vaults for most of their lives. It is estimated that only 1% of all gold sovereigns that have ever been minted are still in collectable condition. In 1891 a proclamation was made that members of the general public could hand in any gold coins that were underweight and have them replaced by full weight coins. Any gold coin struck before 1837 also ceased to be legal tender. This recycled gold was subsequently reminted into 13,680,486 half sovereigns in 1892 and 10,846,741 sovereigns in 1900. (Both figures for the London branch of the Royal Mint).

Sovereign obverse (heads) dies were also used in the nineteenth century to create farthings once they had become worn. (An obverse die could typically produce 100,000 coins.)

1914 half sovereign from the Sydney mint.

Sovereigns were produced in large quantities until World War I, at which time the UK came off the gold standard. From then until 1932, sovereigns were produced only at branch mints at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bombay, Ottawa, and Pretoria (except for some in 1925 produced in London as part of Winston Churchill's ill-fated attempt to return the UK to the gold standard). The last regular issue was in 1932 (at Pretoria).

Production resumed in 1957, ostensibly to prevent the coin being counterfeited in Syria and Italy.[5] Subsequent publication of treasury papers appear to indicate that sovereigns were widely used in pursuance of British foreign policy in the Middle East, and it was felt that the coin could not be allowed to fall into disrepute, as many individuals were receiving payments in the form of sovereigns for services rendered to the British government.

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