2 Pounds Gold Coin

Double Sovereign 1826 Reverse




Double Sovereign 1826 Obverse




Double Sovereign 1887 Reverse




Double Sovereign 1887 Obverse

The 2 Pounds Gold Coin also called a Double Sovereign is a British gold coin first minted in 1820 for King George IV. The coin had denomination of 2 Pounds, but as the pound was an equivalent to a gold sovereign, 2 Pounds gold coin was called a Double Sovereign. The first issue of 1820 had never been minted for circulation, but only as a pattern, but later issues, starting from 1823 were minted for circulation. The 2 Pounds gold coin was minted both in brilliant uncirculated and proof finishes, but proofs were issued much more often.

The 2 Pounds gold coin as all British gold coins are minted as 22-karat gold coins (91.7% of pure gold), which is the "Crown Gold" standard established at the beginning of the 19th century under King George III and which is the standard for US and UK gold coins.

Specifications of the coin had not changed and were aligned to a Full Sovereign gold coin; you can see them in detail below:

With an exception for the coins minted in 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1831, all pre-decimal Double Sovereigns had the same design with the ruling monarch on the obverse of the coin and an image of Saint George slaying a Dragon, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, on the reverse of the coin – same of all sovereigns. The 2 Pounds gold coin issued in the years mentioned above had the crowned shield instead of Saint George and the Dragon.

The 2 Pounds gold coin was not struck regularly and even though all monarchs starting from George IV and with an exception for Edward VIII had issues of Double Sovereigns, they were quite often single-year issues. The same applies to its larger cousin 5 Pounds gold coin or Quintuple Sovereigns. During the reign of Elizabeth II, the 2 Pounds gold coin was both minted as Double Sovereigns (with no denomination and usual for sovereigns design) and as Two Pound gold coins (with denomination) as commemorative coinage. All specifications of the both coin types were the same to a standard Double Sovereign. As most of the Double Sovereigns were issued only for special occasion and in small numbers, the value of the 2 Pounds gold coin is usually very high comparing to other gold coins that you can find on the market and can be measured in thousands of dollars.

You can see some current listings for 2 Pounds gold coins here: