5 Pounds Gold Coin
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Five Pounds 1826 Reverse
Five Pounds 1826 Obverse
Una and the Lion 1839 Reverse
Una and the Lion 1839 Obverse
The 5 Pounds Gold Coin also known as a Quintuple Sovereign is a largest British gold coin first minted in 1820 for King George III. It was not minted for circulation though but only as a pattern. The first issue of 5 Pounds gold coin for circulation was minted in 1826 for King George IV. Quintuple Sovereigns were issued both in brilliant uncirculated and proof finishes, but proofs were minted much more often.
The 5 Pounds gold coin is considered by some as continuation of the Five Guinea gold coins and as all British gold coins is minted in 22-karat of pure gold (91.7%), which is the "Crown Gold" standard used for US and UK gold coins and was started back in the beginning of the 19th century under King George III.
Specifications of the Quintuple Sovereigns had not changed since their initial mint and always were aligned to the specs of a Full Sovereign gold coin; you can see detailed specifications of the 5 Pounds gold coin here:
| Gold composition: | 0.9170 (22-karat) |
| Gold content: | 1.1773 oz |
| Weight: | 39.9403 g |
| Diameter: | 36.03 mm |
In most cases, design of 5 Pounds gold coin was the same as of matching full Sovereign or double Sovereign gold coins. One most significant exception was a Quintuple Sovereign known as "Una and the Lion". The coin was minted in 1839 and the reverse of the coin depicts standing Queen Victoria as Una leading the Lion with the legend in Latin saying, "May the Lord direct my steps". The obverse of the coin is the young head of Queen Victoria. The "Una and the Lion" 5 pounds gold coin is one of the most beautiful and famous of all British coins.
More commonly, 5 Pounds gold coin has the obverse showing a ruling monarch and the reverse designed by Benedetto Pistrucci with Saint George slaying the Dragon. Pre-decimal issues of Quintuple Sovereign gold coins were quite sparse, but almost all rulers since King George III (with exception for William IV and Edward VIII) had at least one issue. In most cases, there were just one-year issues.
The situation had changed close to the end of the 20th century, during the reign of Elizabeth II: the 5 Pounds gold coin was both minted in the Sovereign design (with no denomination) and as Five Pound commemorative gold coins (with denomination). The latter were slightly larger in diameter.
As the most of the Quintuple Sovereigns were issued for special occasions and in very small numbers, the value of 5 pounds gold coins is usually very high comparing to other gold coins of the time and can amount to thousands of dollars.
You can see some current listings for 5 Pounds gold coins here:
