Sovereign (currency)
| United Kingdom | |
| Mass | 7.98 g |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.05 mm |
| Thickness | 1.52 mm |
| Edge | Milled |
| Composition | 22 Carat Gold |
| Years of minting | 1817–1917, 1925, 1957-present |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Reigning British monarch |
| Reverse | |
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| Design | Saint George and the Dragon |
| Designer | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Design date |
1817 Most valuable sovereign = Edward VIII 1937 Purchased at auction 2014 for £516,000 |
1817
The sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of one pound sterling. Prior to 1932 it was a fully circulating coin within Britain's then Gold Standard currency. Today it is used as a bullion coin and is sometimes mounted in jewellery. The most valuable sovereign is the British Edward VIII 1937 struck for Edward VIII who abdicated, therefore these coins never entered circulation, and an example of one was purchased at auction in 2014 for £516,000.
Named after the English gold sovereign, last minted in 1604, the name was revived with the Great Recoinage of 1816. Minting these new sovereigns began in 1817. By the coin act of 1816, 12 Troy ounces of 22-carat gold were worth 44.5 Guineas (a Guinea being £1.05). This meant that the 1-pound sovereign should weigh 160/623 ounces (~0.257 oz or 7.98 g), whereas its content of pure gold was 22/24 of this (~0.23542 oz or ca. 7.322381 g). This weight has remained almost constant — rounding at 10−6 g took place on its legal redefinition in the decimalised rather than fractional system of coin weights.
Sovereigns have been minted in the United Kingdom from 1817 to 1917, in 1925, and from 1957 to the present. In the past Australia, Canada, and South Africa all occasionally minted the coins. Today, they are minted at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, and under licence by MMTC-PAMP near Delhi, India.
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