THE PETTY HOARD
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN SOVEREIGNS
THE BOMBAY BRANCH OF THE ROYAL MINT, 1917
Between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with the rise of Britain's influence and the discovery of gold in British colonies, the Royal Mint began establishing branches around the world to produce gold Sovereigns - the chief coin of the British Empire.
In 1855, the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint began striking Sovereigns; the Melbourne Branch followed soon after in 1872; and the Perth Branch in 1899. The Australian Sovereigns were to be distinguished from the London Sovereigns by unique mint marks - the first letter of the names of the cities in which the coins were being struck - "S" for Sydney, "M" for Melbourne, and "P" for Perth.
In 1908, the Ottawa Branch of the Royal Mint began striking Sovereigns with the mint mark "C" for Canada, starting a new tradition. Then, due to rising demand for the coin after the end of World War I, the Bombay Branch of the Royal Mint was established in 1917. And finally, in 1923, the South African branch of the Royal Mint was opened in Pretoria and utilized the mint mark "SA".
In India the Sovereign was minted for a little over a year beginning in 1918 - the reverse bearing an "I" mint mark and the obverse the portrait of King George V. The total mintage of these Sovereigns was 1,294,372. By 1919, however, production of all Sovereigns struck in India ceased, and the coin would not return to the sub-continent for nearly a century.
THE ROYAL MINT & MMTC-PAMP INDIA ALLIANCE, 2013
95 years later, on 17 February 2013, a new partnership between the Royal Mint and MMTC-PAMP India was announced - a five-year license under which the MMTC-PAMP facility at Rojko-Meo Industrial Estate in District Mewat, Haryana would strike the commemorative Indian Sovereigns.
As with the Sovereigns struck at the Royal Mint in UK, the obverse would bear the official circulating coinage portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, while the reverse would bear the classic depiction of St. George and the Dragon designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, but once again, like its historical counterpart, distinguished by the "I" mint mark.
The unique dies and tooling required for the strikes would be provided by the Royal Mint from South Wales, UK (see image above), and the quality of the minted coins was to be guaranteed by the annual Trial of the Pyx.
The Sovereigns were initially available for sale to customers in India through MMTC-PAMP India’s official distribution network and, later, at selected banks, jewellers, and online retailers.
THE 2013 INDIAN SOVEREIGN - COMMEMORATIVE FIRST STRIKES
The obverse of the 2013 Sovereign bore the 4th Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the circulating coinage portrait at the time.
To celebrate the return of the Sovereign to India, a special commemorative set was commissioned from among the first strikes of the 2013 Sovereign and gifted to select VIP guests at a celebratory launch party in New Delhi. Each set comprised a 2013 Sovereign graded GEM UNCIRCULATED by NGC and set within a wooden presentation case that included a special Certificate of Authenticity.
Beginning with an initial run of 50,000, the total mintage of the 2013 Sovereigns eventually ran up to 94,790. The exact number of the commemorative first strikes remains unknown.
Note on the commemorative Sovereigns: It is not unusual for dealers who desire a common grade for bulk submissions of the same type of coin to request the GEM UNCIRCULATED grade. Besides the fact that using such a "grade window" greatly shortens the grading time, it also helps guarantee that all coins receive a similar grade, which may be a desired outcome in certain cases.
The GEM UNCIRCULATED grade is usually considered the equivalent of an MS 65 or MS 66. However, keeping in mind the commemorative Sovereigns came from among the first strikes, it is conceivable their actual numeric grades are higher.
To be completely certain a GEM UNCIRCULATED 2013 India Sovereign originates from the batch of first strikes, look for the unique Certificate of Authenticity which, unlike the cream-coloured paper-foldout certificate that accompanied the regular carded 2013 Indian Sovereigns, is printed on a large, two-sided, red cardstock paper.
THE 2014 INDIA HALF-SOVEREIGN
The obverse of the 2014 Half-Sovereign bore the 4th Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the circulating coinage portrait at the time.
The total mintage of the 2014 India Half-Sovereigns was 62,000.
THE 1918 & 2014 INDIAN MINT MARK SOVEREIGN SET
The obverse of the 2014 Sovereign bore the 4th Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the circulating coinage portrait at the time.
The total mintage of the 2014 India Sovereigns was 60,471.
On 11 December 2014, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alan Yarrow, made his first official trip to India and struck a special commemorative Sovereign to mark the occasion. To celebrate the event, the Royal Mint issued a special "Sovereign Indian Mint Mark Two-Coin Set" on 12 December 2014 comprising a circulating-standard 1918 Indian Sovereign and a bullion-grade 2014 Indian Sovereign. The set included a numbered Certificate of Authenticity along with a 12-page booklet exploring the story of the Royal Mint's Bombay Branch between 1917-1919 and the return of Sovereign production to India in 2013. The set had an issue limit of 100.
Although the mintages of the 1918 and 2014 Indian Sovereigns are not extremely low, the set itself is rare and has never since come up on the secondary market.
If India was called the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, this set might be called the crowning jewel of any Indian Sovereign collection.
THE 2015 INDIA SOVEREIGN
The obverse of the 2015 Sovereign bore the 4th Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the circulating coinage portrait at the time.
The total mintage of the 2015 India Sovereigns was 64,500.
THE 2016 INDIA SOVEREIGN
The obverse of the 2016 Sovereign bore the 5th Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the circulating coinage portrait at the time.
The total mintage of the 2016 India Sovereigns was 45,000.
MINTAGES
The total mintage of the 1918 Indian Sovereign struck at the Royal Mint's Bombay Branch was 12,94,372.
The total mintages of the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Indian Sovereigns struck at the MMTC-PAMP facility at Rojko-Meo Industrial Estate in District Mewat, Haryana are as follows:
- 2013 Sovereign | 94,790
- 2014 Sovereign | 60,471
- 2014 Half-sovereign | 62,000
- 2015 Sovereign | 64,500
- 2016 Sovereign | 45,000