Gold Sovereign

The name Gold Sovereign stands for a gold coin which was introduced in 1489 during the reign of Henry VII of England. The obverse side of the original coin represented the King facing and seated on His throne. The reverse side displays a Tudor rose holding a shield with the royal arms. The first Gold Sovereign had a purity of 95.83 percent equaling to 23 karats. The gold standard, introduced by Henry VIII, lowered the purity of the sovereign to 22 karats. The Royal Mint proceeded with the introduction of different versions of the sovereign such as half sovereigns and five pound quintuple sovereigns. The use of the coin was discontinued in the early 17th century and restarted in 1817. The newly minted sovereigns carried the depiction of St George slaying the dragon.

The last production of sovereigns took place in Pretoria in 1932. The Bank of England launched a new series of sovereigns in 1957. They were named ‘new sovereigns’ to distinguish them from the ‘old’ coins in circulation. In 1989, a special design was introduced to commemorate the 500 years history of the sovereign. The coin displays Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II facing and seated on her throne. The sovereign is high in demand among the coin collectors. In 2005, the Royal Mint issued another series of gold sovereigns. The new coin adopted a remodeled version of the theme ‘St. George Slaying the Dragon’. The coin is available as bullion in normal circulation and as prove versions. It has a diameter of 22.05 mm and contains approximately 7.32 grams of gold. Similar to the 1989 coin, the latest bullion is in high demand. It seems that the increased interest of collectors in the gold sovereign will result in their annual production. At present, gold sovereigns are purchased for numerous special occasions.