| Sovereign |
The traditional English gold coin bearing the likeness of the monarch, or sovereign. Although it is most associated with the period of the gold standard after 1817, when it was the symbol of the pound sterling, the first Sovereigns were struck much earlier. They were minted on 28 October 1489 to confirm the establishment of the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII. This Sovereign weighed half of one troy ounce (15.55 grams) and was worth 20 shillings, or £1.
All the Tudor monarchs in turn issued Sovereigns but they had very little circulation, being too valuable for everyday payments. James I suspended their minting.
Queen Elizabeth I 'fine Sovereign'
of thirty shillings has the
enthroned queen on the face and the superbly
designed Tudor Rose on the reverse
(Credit: Spink & Son
Ltd)
It was not
until 1817 that the Sovereign came back, to replace the Guinea,
when cash payments, that is to say, the redemption of notes with gold coin,
were resumed after the Napoleonic Wars. This Sovereign was worth £1 and contained
one-quarter ounce (7.77 grams) of 916 gold
(standard gold as it was then known).
It bore the St George and Dragon design of Benedetto Pistrucci.
During the next century over
600 million Sovereigns and 90 million Half Sovereigns were issued. They were
minted also at branches of the Royal Mint in India and Australia.
Queen Victoria 'young head'
Sovereign,
minted in 1872 (Credit: Spink & Son Ltd)
After the gold standard was
suspended in 1914 the repayment of £1 notes in Sovereigns never resumed and
the Sovereign became increasingly an investor’s item, with its price based upon
its gold content. The Bank of England, however, has continued to order Sovereigns
to be struck at the Royal Mint and markets them at a small premium.
The market distinguishes between ‘old’ Sovereigns from the gold standard era
and ‘new’ Sovereigns, being those bearing the head of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Royal Mint also strikes
proof Sovereigns annually for collectors and
in 1989 issued commemorative copies
of the first ones issued five hundred years earlier in 1489.