Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Strasbourg team · updated
Photos: Snd3054, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, cut out on a black background.
Specifications
Country
United Kingdom
Metal
Gold, 916.7‰ fine (22 carat)
Weight
7.988 g (half sovereign: 3.99 g)
Fine gold
7.322 g (half sovereign: 3.66 g)
Diameter
22.05 mm (half sovereign: 19.30 mm)
Years struck
Since 1817, with interruptions (no circulation strikes from 1933 to 1956)
Mints
London (no mark), Sydney (S), Melbourne (M), Perth (P), Ottawa (C), Bombay (I), Pretoria (SA)
The sovereign is the British one-pound gold coin, struck since 1817 in London and then in the mints of the Empire, from Sydney to Pretoria. It turns up often because it was produced in hundreds of millions and served as a trade coin far beyond the United Kingdom. To identify one, look at the monarch, the year and the small mint mark, which separates a common coin from a rarity.
Portrait of the reigning monarch, facing left or right depending on the reign, with an abbreviated Latin legend. Under George V, for example: “GEORGIVS V D.G.BRITT:OMN:REX F.D.IND:IMP:”. Under the young Victoria, “VICTORIA DEI GRATIA”.
Reverse
Two main types. Saint George slaying the dragon, by Benedetto Pistrucci, with his initials “B.P.” near the date: from 1817 to 1820, then continuously since 1871. Between these periods, and in London until 1874, a crowned shield of the royal arms within a laurel wreath, with “BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:” under Victoria.
Edge
Milled (reeded) on circulation coins. Some recent collector coins have a plain edge.
Engraver
Benedetto Pistrucci for Saint George. Successive portraits: William Wyon (young Victoria), Joseph Edgar Boehm (Jubilee, 1887), Thomas Brock (Old Head, 1893), George William de Saulles (Edward VII), Bertram Mackennal (George V), Mary Gillick, Arnold Machin, Raphael Maklouf, Ian Rank-Broadley and Jody Clark (Elizabeth II), Martin Jennings (Charles III).
Dates and mintages
British Gold Sovereign: key dates
First find the mint mark: on the Saint George reverse, a small letter on the ground above the date; on the shield reverse, below the laurel wreath; on the first Australian Saint George coins, below the bust. A coin with no mark comes from London. The George V dates struck in Australia in the 1920s are the most sought after.
British Gold Sovereign: dates and mintages
Year
Mint
Mintage
Remarks
1817
London
unknown
First modern sovereign, Pistrucci's Saint George.
1819
London
3,574
Very rare date.
1838-1874
London
unknown
Young Victoria, shield reverse (none struck in 1840 or 1867).
1855-1870
Sydney
unknown
Type specific to the Sydney Mint, legend “SYDNEY MINT AUSTRALIA”.
1871
Sydney
2,814,400
First Australian sovereigns of the London type, with S.
1872
Melbourne
unknown
Opening of the mint, M mark.
1879
London
unknown
Small mintage, almost always worn.
1899
Perth
unknown
Opening of the mint, P mark.
1908
Ottawa
unknown
First Canadian sovereign, C mark.
1916
Ottawa
6,111
Key date of the Canadian series.
1917
London
1,014,714
The rarest 20th-century London sovereign.
1918
Bombay
1,294,372
Only year of the Indian mint, I mark.
1919
Melbourne
514,257
Sought after.
1920
Sydney
360,000
Almost entirely melted down: a great rarity.
1920
Melbourne
530,266
Rare, a large part was melted down.
1921
Melbourne
240,121
Very rare.
1922
Melbourne
608,306
Rare.
1923
Pretoria
406
First year of Pretoria, SA mark; 655 proofs.
1924
Sydney
394,000
Hard to find.
1925
London
unknown
Restruck in 1949, 1951 and 1952 with the 1925 date.
1926
Sydney
1,031,050
Last year of Sydney, very rare despite the mintage.
1931
Melbourne
57,809
Last year of Melbourne.
1932
Pretoria
1,066,680
Last circulation sovereign under George V.
1957
London
unknown
Striking resumes, portrait by Mary Gillick.
1974
London
unknown
Resumed after a six-year pause, portrait by Arnold Machin.
Mintages from Wikipedia (1819, 1918 Bombay) and the mint-by-mint tables of goldsovereigns.co.uk, cross-checked with Heritage listings and specialist dealers. Recorded mintages do not always reflect rarity: many Australian sovereigns were melted down. The table does not list every date.
Varieties and known fakes
The varieties come first from the portraits: Victoria exists as a young head (1838-1887), a Jubilee head (1887-1893) and a veiled old head (1893-1901). The “Sydney Mint” type sovereign, struck from 1855 to 1870, shows Victoria with a banksia sprig in her hair and carries the name of the mint and “ONE SOVEREIGN” on the reverse. Under Victoria, London and Australia struck the shield reverse and the Saint George in parallel, Australia keeping the shield until 1887. Some 1863 coins carry a small “827” on the obverse, probably an ingot number.
The sovereign is one of the most imitated gold coins in the world. After the Second World War it still circulated in Greece and the Middle East, where demand was strong, which encouraged clandestine workshops in Syria, Italy, Switzerland and then Lebanon in the early 1970s. Many of these fakes contain the right amount of gold, so scales alone are not enough. The signs to look for are soft relief, the grainy surface of a cast coin, irregular milling and a combination of date, portrait or mint that does not exist. Resuming production in 1957 was precisely meant to compete with these copies. See also the guide spotting a fake coin (in French).
Grading this coin
Saint George is the best indicator of wear. Look first at the helmet and the horse's mane, then the rider's thigh and the animal's muscles: on a heavily circulated coin they become a smooth surface. The scales and tail of the dragon also disappear quickly.
On the portrait side, the high points depend on the reign. On George V, the beard and ear; on Edward VII, the cheekbone and the hair above the ear; on the young Victoria, the bun and the locks tied with a ribbon. On the shield reverse, watch the details of the crown and the laurel leaves.
Sovereigns were widely used in payment, then in jewellery: mount marks, edge knocks and cleaning scratches are common. For a common date, these defects matter little. For a rare date, they weigh heavily, which is why you should never clean a coin (guide in French). The grading scale is explained in the guide coin grades (in French).
History
The sovereign was born of the great recoinage of British money that followed the Napoleonic Wars. Authorised by the Coinage Act of 1816, it was struck from 1817 and replaced the guinea as the reference gold coin. Pistrucci, an Italian engraver, designed the Saint George for it, which was dropped in 1821 and then restored in 1871.
The Australian gold rush changed the scale of production. Sydney struck from 1855, first with its own type, then from 1871 with the London type and a mint mark. Melbourne opened in 1872, Perth in 1899, Ottawa in 1908. During the First World War, a temporary mint operated in Bombay in 1918 and 1919 with South African gold that the naval war prevented from being shipped to London. Pretoria took over from 1923 to 1932.
After 1917, London struck almost no sovereigns for circulation, 1925 being the best-known exception. The Australian mints stopped in 1931, Pretoria in 1932. The coin returned in 1957, struck in large runs until 1968, and again since 1974. The half sovereign follows the same history, with its own dates. You will find other British and Commonwealth coins in the section foreign coins (in French).
In Strasbourg
British Gold Sovereign in Alsace
There is no direct historical link between the sovereign and Alsace: the coin was never legal tender in France. Yet it regularly turns up in Alsatian estates, as everywhere in France, alongside the 20 francs Napoleon or the 20 marks. The sovereigns of Edward VII and George V, struck in very large numbers, are the most common.
British Gold Sovereign: frequently asked questions
Where is the mint mark on a sovereign?
On the Saint George reverse, it is a small letter above the date, on the ground where the horse stands. On the shield reverse, it is below the laurel wreath. A coin with no letter was struck in London.
What is the difference between a sovereign and a half sovereign?
The half sovereign contains half as much gold (3.66 g against 7.32 g) and measures 19.30 mm instead of 22.05 mm. The designs are the same, but the rare dates are not.
Is a 1925 sovereign rare?
Not necessarily: the 1925 date was restruck in London in 1949, 1951 and 1952, which makes these coins common. The 1925 coins from Sydney, Melbourne or Pretoria can be told apart by their mint mark.
My sovereign has the right weight: is it necessarily genuine?
No. Many fakes from the Middle East and Italy were struck in gold of the right fineness and weight. The relief, the milling and the consistency between date, portrait and mint tell you more.
