Full Sovereign Gold Coin
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Sovereign Henry VII Reverse
Sovereign Henry VII Obverse
Sovereign Edward VII Reverse
Sovereign Edward VII Reverse
The Full Sovereign Gold Coin or just the Sovereign is a British gold coin that first was minted in 1489 for king Henry VII and is still in production. The Sovereign has a nominal value of one-pound sterling or 20 shillings, but unlike the pound is not officially issued for circulation, but rather as a British gold bullion coin. Yet it was not uncommon to make payments and use sovereigns for transactions in the 19th century and before.
The specifications of the Full Sovereign gold coin as of 1817 to the present are as follows:
| Gold composition: | 0.9170 (22-karat) |
| Gold content: | 0.2354 oz/td> |
| Weight: | 7.9881 g |
| Diameter: | 22.05 mm |
| Thickness: | 1.52 mm |
The Full Sovereign gold coin was originally quite big and impressive coin, having gold contents of 23-karat and weighed 15.6 grams. The name "Sovereign" came from a royal and imposing look of the coin, that was originally showing a king seated on a throne on the obverse, and reverse had the Royal coat of arms on a shield in the centre of the Tudor double rose.
The gold contents of the full Sovereign gold coin was reduced to 22-karat by Henry VIII and modern sovereigns still have the same gold contents. Moreover eventually, 22-karat became a gold standard called "Crown Gold" used for British and US gold coins. The weight of the coin was continually reduced until it settled to 7.9881 grams.
After initial start in 1489, the issue of sovereigns was discontinued in 1604; they've been replaced first with Unites, then with Laurels, and with Guineas after that. Starting from 1817, production of the full Sovereign gold coin was resumed again and continues until the present time. The design of the coin was reworked and reverse now featured Saint George slaying a dragon designed by Benedetto Pistrucci and a portrait of the ruling monarch was on the obverse of the coin. It is the most common design for the full Sovereign gold coins, but other reverse designs were used as well during the reigns of William IV, Victoria, George IV, and Elizabeth II.
In addition to the full Sovereign gold coin, there are also Half Sovereigns, Double Sovereigns (gold Two Pound coins), and Quintuple Sovereigns (gold Five Pound coins). Starting from 2009, the Royal Mint started issuing Quarter Sovereigns.
You can see some current listings for Full Sovereign gold coins here:
