The gold sovereign is surely one of the most famous coins in the
world. "Sovereign" is the name we give to a gold coin, originally
of one pound sterling value. The "Pound" originated in the 8th
century, for a notional monetary unit of 240 "Sterlings" (pennies)
each of 1/240th of a pound weight of silver, so a pound was equal
to one pound of silver. The first pound was struck in 1489 during
the reign of Henry VII. It was a magnificent coin showing on the
obverse the king seated facing on a throne, hence the name
"Sovereign".
The first sovereigns
Henry VII ordered the sovereign to be struck, probably as part
of the process to stabilise the English economy after decades of
disastrous civil war. Henry also hoped to impress his European
counterparts with his power and wealth by matching the prestigious
continental coins. The King commissioned the great German engraver
Alexander of Bruchsal to design the coin, showing Henry VII
enthroned on the obverse and a Tudor rose enclosing a shield on the
reverse. The new sovereign has been described as the finest ever
minted in England. Its value was 240 silver pennies or twenty
shillings, each of 12 pennies. Incidentally the first shilling (or
testoon) was also produced later in Henry VII's reign, also by
engraver Alexander of Bruchsal. The first sovereign, struck in 23
carat (95.83% fine), weighed 240 grains (0.5 troy ounces, 15.55
grams). For comparison the modern sovereign weighs 113 grains.
Debasement and replacement
During the reign of Henry VIII, he first increased the
sovereign's value from 20 shillings to 22 shillings then 22
shillings and 6d, before debasing the gold quality to 22 carat and
then 20 carat. His son, Edward VI raised the fineness to 22 Carat
and fixed the value at 20 shillings, as well as issuing a half
sovereign, a "Fine Sovereign" of 30 shillings and a double
sovereign. Following his early death in 1553, his half sister, Mary
became queen and issued only a "Fine Sovereign" of 23¾ carats,
worth 30 shillings. Mary died in 1558 and her successor, Elizabeth
I re-introduced a "standard sovereign" of 22 carats, worth 20
shillings, circulating alongside the fine sovereign. The next
monarch James 1 rationalised things by eliminating the fine
sovereign and introducing in 1604 a smaller, lighter sovereign of
22 carat fineness. This was to be the last sovereign struck in
England for 213 years.
Unite, Laurel, Broad and Guinea
After the sovereign there followed a succession of coins, of
roughly sovereign value. First came the "Unite" of one pound value.
It was so called in honour of the uniting of the kingdoms of
England and Scotland. In 1612 the Unite was revalued at 22s before
being replaced in 1619 by the "Laurel", but returned in the reign
of Charles I. It survived the Civil War and was circulated during
the Commonwealth, although a smaller 20 shillings coin, "the
Broad", was briefly issued in 1656. The Unite was issued for two
years by the restored Charles II but was replaced by the
machine-made "Guinea" (so called because it used gold from Guinea,
West Africa) in 1668.
The Sovereign Reigns Supreme
In 1809 the Royal Mint was moved from the Tower of London to a
new site on Tower Hill. In 1813 the last Guinea, with a value of 21
shillings, was struck by the Royal Mint. A fundamental shift in the
form and nature of British coinage was about to take place. Using
the new steam-powered minting machines of Boulton and Watt, the
Mint could now produce coins on an industrial scale. These coins
were technically superior to the old milled coins, minted to a
consistently higher quality. Most significantly, the Mint now
issued coins with a face value greater than their intrinsic value -
the world's first "token" coinage. And then in 1817 came the return
of the gold sovereign after an absence of 213 years. What a
beautiful coin it was: on its reverse was the iconic engraving of
St George and the Dragon, by the brilliant Italian engraver
Bendetto Pistrucci. This is essentially the modern gold sovereign
we know today, minted to 22 carat (91.7%) fineness, 22.05 mm in
diameter, weighing 7.988 g.
The George & Dragon design continued to be used exclusively
on the reverse of sovereigns until 1825, when a shield design was
introduced. The shield continued to be used throughout the reigns
of George IV, William IV and Queen
Victoria, interchangeably with the George & Dragon. As the
British Empire spread across the globe, the sovereign went with it,
accepted and trusted in even the most remote parts of the world. In
1855 the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint was established. Uniquely,
its sovereigns (identified by the mintmark "S") were completely
different in design to the British originals. Other Royal Mints
striking sovereigns were opened at Melbourne (1872, mintmark "M"),
Perth (1899, mintmark "P") and Ottawa, Canada (1908, mintmark "C").
In 1918 for a single year the Indian Mint at Calcutta produced a
sovereign.
A new life for the Sovereign
In 1917, under pressure of the war effort, the Royal Mint
stopped production of the gold sovereign, replacing it with paper
currency for everyday circulation. Although the Mint produced some
sovereigns again in 1927 and proof sets for collectors in 1937
(George VI) and 1953 (Queen Elizabeth II) this effectively marked
the end of the sovereign as currency. However, in 1957 the Royal
Mint responded to demand from collectors and investors and issued
bullion sovereigns almost every year until 1968, resuming regular
production in 1974. In 1979 the Mint issued proof versions, which
were so popular the practice continues to this day.
In 1989 the 500th anniversary of the sovereign was marked by a
special commemorative proof issue, while the Queen's 2002 Golden
Jubilee saw the shield design used, in modified form, on the
reverse of a sovereign for the first time since 1887. Over the past
decade bullion and proof sovereigns have proved a sound investment
and have also been increasingly popular as gifts for christening,
special birthdays, anniversaries, etc. As long as there's a pound,
it seems likely we'll still have a sovereign.
To view our current
range of Sovereigns, please click here>>
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