The gold sovereign is surely one of the most famous coins in the world. "Sovereign" is the name we give to a gold coin, originally of one pound sterling value. The "Pound" originated in the 8th century, for a notional monetary unit of 240 "Sterlings" (pennies) each of 1/240th of a pound weight of silver, so a pound was equal to one pound of silver. The first pound was struck in 1489 during the reign of Henry VII. It was a magnificent coin showing on the obverse the king seated facing on a throne, hence the name "Sovereign".
The first sovereigns
Henry VII ordered the sovereign to be struck, probably as part of the process to stabilise the English economy after decades of disastrous civil war. Henry also hoped to impress his European counterparts with his power and wealth by matching the prestigious continental coins. The King commissioned the great German engraver Alexander of Bruchsal to design the coin, showing Henry VII enthroned on the obverse and a Tudor rose enclosing a shield on the reverse. The new sovereign has been described as the finest ever minted in England. Its value was 240 silver pennies or twenty shillings, each of 12 pennies. Incidentally the first shilling (or testoon) was also produced later in Henry VII's reign, also by engraver Alexander of Bruchsal. The first sovereign, struck in 23 carat (95.83% fine), weighed 240 grains (0.5 troy ounces, 15.55 grams). For comparison the modern sovereign weighs 113 grains
Debasement and replacement
During the reign of Henry VIII, he first increased the sovereign's value from 20 shillings to 22 shillings then 22 shillings and 6d, before debasing the gold quality to 22 carat and then 20 carat. His son, Edward VI raised the fineness to 22 Carat and fixed the value at 20 shillings, as well as issuing a half sovereign, a "Fine Sovereign" of 30 shillings and a double sovereign. Following his early death in 1553, his half sister, Mary became queen and issued only a "Fine Sovereign" of 23¾ carats, worth 30 shillings. Mary died in 1558 and her successor, Elizabeth I re-introduced a "standard sovereign" of 22 carats, worth 20 shillings, circulating alongside the fine sovereign. The next monarch James 1 rationalised things by eliminating the fine sovereign and introducing in 1604 a smaller, lighter sovereign of 22 carat fineness. This was to be the last sovereign struck in England for 213 years.
Unite, Laurel, Broad and Guinea
After the sovereign there followed a succession of coins, of roughly sovereign value. First came the "Unite" of one pound value. It was so called in honour of the uniting of the kingdoms of England and Scotland. In 1612 the Unite was revalued at 22s before being replaced in 1619 by the "Laurel", but returned in the reign of Charles I. It survived the Civil War and was circulated during the Commonwealth, although a smaller 20 shillings coin, "the Broad", was briefly issued in 1656. The Unite was issued for two years by the restored Charles II but was replaced by the machine-made "Guinea" (so called because it used gold from Guinea, West Africa) in 1668.
The Sovereign Reigns Supreme
In 1809 the Royal Mint was moved from the Tower of London to a new site on Tower Hill. In 1813 the last Guinea, with a value of 21 shillings, was struck by the Royal Mint. A fundamental shift in the form and nature of British coinage was about to take place. Using the new steam-powered minting machines of Boulton and Watt, the Mint could now produce coins on an industrial scale. These coins were technically superior to the old milled coins, minted to a consistently higher quality. Most significantly, the Mint now issued coins with a face value greater than their intrinsic value - the world's first "token" coinage. And then in 1817 came the return of the gold sovereign after an absence of 213 years. What a beautiful coin it was: on its reverse was the iconic engraving of St George and the Dragon, by the brilliant Italian engraver Bendetto Pistrucci. This is essentially the modern gold sovereign we know today, minted to 22 carat (91.7%) fineness, 22.05 mm in diameter, weighing 7.988 g.
The George & Dragon design continued to be used exclusively on the reverse of sovereigns until 1825, when a shield design was introduced. The shield continued to be used throughout the reigns of George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria, interchangeably with the George & Dragon. As the British Empire spread across the globe, the sovereign went with it, accepted and trusted in even the most remote parts of the world. In 1855 the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint was established. Uniquely, its sovereigns (identified by the mintmark "S") were completely different in design to the British originals. Other Royal Mints striking sovereigns were opened at Melbourne (1872, mintmark "M"), Perth (1899, mintmark "P") and Ottawa, Canada (1908, mintmark "C"). In 1918 for a single year the Indian Mint at Calcutta produced a sovereign.
A new life for the Sovereign
In 1917, under pressure of the war effort, the Royal Mint stopped production of the gold sovereign, replacing it with paper currency for everyday circulation. Although the Mint produced some sovereigns again in 1927 and proof sets for collectors in 1937 (George VI) and 1953 (Queen Elizabeth II) this effectively marked the end of the sovereign as currency. However, in 1957 the Royal Mint responded to demand from collectors and investors and issued bullion sovereigns almost every year until 1968, resuming regular production in 1974. In 1979 the Mint issued proof versions, which were so popular the practice continues to this day.
In 1989 the 500th anniversary of the sovereign was marked by a special commemorative proof issue, while the Queen's 2002 Golden Jubilee saw the shield design used, in modified form, on the reverse of a sovereign for the first time since 1887. Over the past decade bullion and proof sovereigns have proved a sound investment and have also been increasingly popular as gifts for christening, special birthdays, anniversaries, etc. As long as there's a pound, it seems likely we'll still have a sovereign.
