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THE 200th ANNIVERSARY SOVEREIGNS
THE 200th ANNIVERSARY SOVEREIGNS
THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN SOVEREIGN
THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN SOVEREIGN
The story of the modern Sovereign begins in 1817 during the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. With the United Kingdom's silver stores having been drained by the devastating battles and its circulating coinage left in poor condition, a great reform of UK coinage was undertaken and gold was adopted as the 'sole Standard Measure of Value'. The Gold Standard was introduced, and the coins that would be made, and the standards to which they would be struck, were formalized by legislation.
At first it was intended to re-introduce the Twenty-One Shilling Guinea, but it was found that ‘a very general wish prevails among the Public in favour of a Coinage of Gold Pieces of the value of Twenty Shillings and Ten Shillings, in preference to Guineas, Half Guineas and Seven Shilling Pieces’. Hence a new gold coin with a value of Twenty Shillings or One Pound was introduced, and thus the modern Sovereign was born.
THE 1817 SOVEREIGN
THE 1817 SOVEREIGN
Image of Benedetto Pistrucci
The Master of the Mint, William Wellesley Pole, wanted the new gold coin to be unrivaled in design, and so it was that Benedetto Pistrucci, who had come to London from Italy under the patronage of the Prince Regent, was commissioned the prestigious task of bringing to bear his own vision for the new Sovereign under the reign of King George III.
Pistrucci created an interpretation of St. George and the Dragon that defied the medieval imagery of the iconic legend long portrayed in Christendom. Opting for a neo-classical Greek interpretation, he depicted St. George bare of all clothing and armour save for a helm and a streaming cloak, his hand holding the shaft of a broken spear whose tip lay pierced in the breast of the defeated Dragon that now lay trampled beneath his horse's hooves.
Encircling the portrait was a Latin phrase that had featured on the coat of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom for centuries, ‘HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE’, meaning ‘Evil unto him that thinks evil of it’.
The Royal Mint, having by now moved to its new location in Tower Hill, London, and equipped to meet the new demands of UK's coinage with modern steam-powered machinery, began striking the new Sovereigns in 1817... and would continue to do so until the present day.
THE 2017 SOVEREIGN
THE 2017 SOVEREIGN
The 200th anniversary edition of the annual Sovereign used Pistrucci's original design for the first time since 1820. It was also the first time since 1887 that the date appeared on the coin's obverse.
The coin was finished to Proof standard and had a maximum mintage of 13,050.
THE "STRIKE ON THE DAY" SOVEREIGN
THE "STRIKE ON THE DAY" SOVEREIGN
The Sovereign is sometimes struck on the day of historic occasions and to celebrate significant royal events.
The Strike on the Day Sovereign was minted on 1 July 2017 to mark the exact date of the 200th anniversary of the proclamation that revived the Sovereign in 1817.
The coin was finished to Brilliant Uncirculated standard and was the only coin in the Anniversary Range to feature the garter reverse with a plain (not milled) edge. The coins had a maximum mintage of 1,817 representing the date of the proclamation.
THE PIEDFORT SOVEREIGN
THE PIEDFORT SOVEREIGN
Piedfort coins originate from France and were first seen in the twelfth century. Translated to English, the word means ‘heavy measure’.
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Sovereign, the first ever piedfort edition of the Sovereign was minted, struck to twice the thickness of the regular Sovereign and finished to Proof standard. The coins had a maximum mintage of 3,500.
THE FIVE SOVEREIGN
THE FIVE SOVEREIGN
The celebratory issue of the 2017 Five Sovereign was the first time that Pistrucci’s original design was used on this coin.
The coin was finished to Brilliant Uncirculated standard and had a maximum mintage of 1,000.
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