History of the Gold Sovereign

[bigjarofwasps]

A Brief History

The First Sovereign

The gold sovereign came into existence in 1489 under King Henry VII

The pound sterling had been a unit of account for centuries, as had the mark. Now for the first time a coin denomination was issued with a value of one pound sterling.

The obverse design showed the King seated facing on a throne, a very majestic image. It is from this image of the monarch or sovereign that the new coin gained its name - the sovereign. The reverse type is a shield on a large double Tudor rose.

This first sovereign occurs with a number of minor type variations all of which are rare, currently cataloguing from ?7000 upwards. Sovereigns were then struck for Henry VIII, and for most monarchs until the first coinage of James I.

Unites and Guineas

From James' second coinage, the sovereign was discontinued in favour of the "unite", also valued at one pound. The unite continued into the reign of Charles I, The Commonwealth, and the early hammered coinage of Charles II.

With the introduction of regular machine made "milled" coinage under Charles II, the guinea was introduced, with a value of twenty one shillings, and this continued to be the main gold coin until 1813 under George III.

The Modern Sovereign

In1816, there was a major change in the British coinage, powered by the Industrial Revolution. The Royal Mint moved from The Tower of London to new premises on nearby Tower Hill, and acquired powerful new steam powered coining presses designed by Matthew Boulton and James Watt. the modern sovereign was born!

A new reverse design was introduced featuring Saint George slaying a dragon, designed by a brilliant young Italian engraver, Benedetto Pistrucci. This beautiful classic design remains on our gold sovereigns today, almost two hundred years later, and for most of its life must have been one of the worlds most widely recognised coins.

Gold Gives Way To Paper

During the first world war, Britain needed gold bullion to finance the war effort. Banknotes were introduced into regular circulation, and within a few years, the gold sovereign ceased to be used in everyday transactions. Production at the Royal Mint stopped in 1917, although some were minted again in 1925.

The branch mints continued to produce sovereigns, Ottawa in Canada until 1919, Bombay in India in 1918, Sydney Australia until 1926, Melbourne and Perth Australia until 1931, and Pretoria South Africa until 1932.

No further sovereigns were then issued for circulation until 1957, although sovereigns were included in the George VI proof set of 1937 which was available for collectors, and sovereigns were also minted but not issued for Edward VIII in 1937, and for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Production Restarted

From 1957, bullion sovereigns were issued almost every year until 1968, then not until 1974 when regular production was restarted.

In 1979, a proof version was issued, and this continues to the present.

In 1989, a special 500 commemorative design was produced, inspired by the very first gold sovereign of 1489, showing H.M. Queen Elizabeth II seated facing on a throne.

For 2002, a shield will be used us the design on the reverse for just one year to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

It appears likely that gold sovereigns will continue to be struck every year for sale to collectors. They have become a very popular gift item for christenings and other special occasions.

Technical Specifications

For modern gold sovereigns, i.e. from 1817

Diameter: 22.05 mm.

Weight: 7.98 grams.

Alloy: 22 carat gold = 0.917 parts per 1000.

Actual gold content: 0.2354 troy ounces.

[bigjarofwasps]

There are numerous references to gold sovereigns associated with the British support of the Arab Revolt in the 1st World War, the area must have been awash with the stuff for years.

After the capture of Aqaba in July 1917 Lawrence crossed Sinai in order to secure funds to pay the Arabs involved in the operation. In the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Lawrence says:

'Clayton drew sixteen thousand pounds in gold and got an escort to take it to Suez by the 3 o'clock train'

Lawrence's field diary also mentions gold:

February 5–18 [1918]

Lawrence returns to Tafileh with 30,000 sovereigns for the forthcoming campaign in the area. He gives the funds to the Emir Zeid, younger brother of Feisal and leader of the expedition, and leaves for a reconnaissance in the area east of the Dead Sea. In Lawrence's absence, Zeid's local advisers persuade him to pay out all the money to local tribes.

In an echo of the Gulf War I think I also read somewhere that the Arabs were promised a bounty of 50 gold sovereigns for any downed allied airmen returned safely to the allies.

From March 1916 (2 months before the Revolt began) Sherif Husain was paid ?125,000 per month in gold sovereigns by the British to try a sway him into coming in on the allied side (a deal which Gertrude Bell helped to set up).

My guess is a lot of this gold is still knocking around, mostly as jewellery and dowry gifts for the local Bedouin women.

[Bob Hunter]

Although not a coin collector I find the story fascinating. Thanks.

[bigjarofwasps]

Thanks Bob, glad you found it interesting :food-smiley-004:

[Guest Rick Research]

I knew how a Guinea varied from a Pound, but never knew exactly what a Sovereign WAS before reading this.

Shillings and tuppence ha'pennies all receding in the public memory....

[Guest WAR LORD]

I knew how a Guinea varied from a Pound, but never knew exactly what a Sovereign WAS before reading this.  :food-smiley-004:

Shillings and tuppence ha'pennies all receding in the public memory....

←

A little point on this extremely interesting topic

?Unites and Guineas

From James' second coinage, the sovereign was discontinued in favour of the "unite", also valued at one pound. The unite continued into the reign of Charles I, The Commonwealth, and the early hammered coinage of Charles II.

With the introduction of regular machine made "milled" coinage under Charles II, the guinea was introduced, with a value of twenty one shillings, and this continued to be the main gold coin until 1813 under George III.?

It was James 1st who due to a shift in the ratio between gold and silver found it necessary to make an alteration in the weights of gold coins in 1604. at that time vast quantities of silver were being transported to Europe from the mines in Spain?s American colonies. On his second coinage 1604-19, James uses for the first time the title ?King of Great Britain?. He struck a complete set of ?standard gold? coins as well as the commoner ?crown gold? denominations. The 30s. sovereign was now reduced in weight to 213 grains and is termed the ?rose-ryal? from the use of the Tudor rose on the reverse, and its half is the 15s. ?spur-ryal?, s0-called from the radiant sun at the centre of the reverse being likened to the rowel of a spur. The angel and its half are of normal type.

In the ?crown gold? series the 20s. sovereign or pound, now reduced in weight from 172 to 155 grains, is renamed a ?unit? and it commemorates the union of the two realms under on monarch.

With the Restoration, two major developments in the history of English coinage took place. The final abandonment of the hand-hammering method of minting and the commencement of a regal coper coinage.the new milled coinage began in 1662 with an issue of silver crowns. The new coins designed by Roettier were struck on smaller but thicker flans than the old hammered money so as to allow for a grained or lettered edge. Two new denominations were added, a five pownd piece and a two pound piece to supplement the pound and half pound. The gold crown was no longer minted. Much of the gold for the new coinage was supplied by the African Company which was engaged in trade along the Gold or ?Guinea? Coast as it was known. As a special mark of recognition to the company the coins made from African gold were marked with the company?s badge. This was either an elephant or an elephant and castle tavern sign. The pound pieces soon became known as ?guineas? and this name was applied to coins with and without the African Company badge. It should be noted that when first issued the ?Guineas? were coins of 20s. value but they were soon rated at a higher value in silver coin. The milled guinea was first struck at a slightly over 131.5 grains, some 8.5 grains lighter than the hammered unit or broad valued at 21s. 4d. with fluctuating metal prices it became necessary to reduce the weight of the guinea in 1670 by 2 grains to 129.5 grains. However the price of gold continued to rise and though the weight was not altered again, guineas were changing hands at between 21s. and 22s. in the last years of Charles 11 reign. In 1717, following a report on the coinage by Sir Isaac Newton, the value of the Guinea, which during the last decade of the seventeenth centuary had ranged from 24s. to 30s. just prior to the Great Recoinage 1696. the operation of the recoinage was supervised by Newton, who had been made Warden of the Mint in March 1696 and went on to be appointed to the Mastership in 1699. the guinea which was subsequently rated at 21s. 6d. was finally fixed at 21s. it remained at this rate for the next hundred years until it was replaced by the Sovereign.

From the military collecting perspective the last Guinea to be minted has the most interest as it is known as the ?Military? Guinea. It was struck with it?s half in 1813 and was commonly known by this name as many were used for the payment and provisioning of the army during the Peninsular campaign.

[bigjarofwasps]

Found these pics on the net, thought someone might find them useful.

Right beauties, you can really see the detail!!!!

[Guest WAR LORD]

It is interesting to note that in the ground under the horse is a small "M" This is the mint mark for the Melborn Mint in Australia.

[bigjarofwasps]

Yes its lovely isn`t it, the attention to detail, in these sovereigns is remarkable. This one of the reaons why, its such a pleasure to collect them!!!!!!

[mariner]

George V 'M' 1915 Gold Sovereign Ring weighing a total of 20.1grams

I wonder what tales this would tell if it could only speak!!!!

A gift given to some ANZAC before de sailed to Gallipoli?

Used by Lawrence of Arabia, to bribe the Arabs?

Worn by someone from the LRDG or SOE, during WW2?

Kept after Op Granby by some SAS Trooper?

The mind boggles!!!!

[bigjarofwasps]

George V 'M' 1915 Gold Sovereign Ring weighing a total of 20.1grams

I wonder what tales this would tell if it could only speak!!!!

A gift given to some ANZAC before de sailed to Gallipoli?

Used by Lawrence of Arabia, to bribe the Arabs?

Worn by someone from the LRDG or SOE, during WW2?

Kept after Op Granby by some SAS Trooper?

The mind boggles!!!!

I suppose we`ll never know, but it is nice to try and speculate. There are a few facts that we can be sure of.....

At some point in the last 90 odd years its made the journey from Australia to Great Britain. I`m not sure but I assume you`d be able to ascertain when the ring part was made by the hall marks. Is there anyone out there with knowledge of this sort of thing that could shine some light on it for us?

[bigjarofwasps]

I found this link, which might help age the ring?

http://www.jewellerycatalogue.co.uk/gold_j...ay_hallmark.php

[mariner]

I wonder which route it took during its journey?

Will have a look at the mint marks, and let you know, with regards when the ring was made.

Edited July 22, 2006 by mariner

[mariner]

I`ve had a look at the hall marks. Its very difficult to see them, as there very worn. I`ve been unable to ascertain any information off them