British Gold Coins

Bullion British Gold Coinsnumismatists. Ever since 2000, Sovereigns have
Among the most well-known lines of gold coinsonce again been minted as bullion coins, whose
around the world is British Sovereign. Because ofvalue depends mainly on their weight in gold.
their exiting and rich history and cultural value, oldAs I said before, British Gold Coins have an official
Sovereigns are in high demand by coin collectors.value. Their true value, however, is determined
Newer bullion sovereigns are popular amongboth by the present market price of their gold
investors.content plus unstable numismatic value, which
These British Gold Coins began being produced invaries massively depending on the specific coin
1489 by King Henry the Seventh. They had aand buyer demand.
nominal value of one pound sterling (20 shillings).Bullion coins minted in recent times should in
But their primary use was as official bullion andtheorybe valued at around the market value of
not general circulation, so there is no marked facetheir weight with a small premium, but older
value on the coins.sovereigns can be worth a lot more. Historically,
The original Sovereign coins consisted ofBritish Gold Sovereigns were often removed
twenty-three karat gold, which is ninety sixfrom circulation by the Mint and their gold content
percent pure, and contained 15.6 grams of gold,reminted into new coins. Coins that had become
or a half-troy oz. Under King Henry VIII, theworn down and lost some of theri weight were
purity of Sovereigns was decreased tooften bought back from citizens, and were
twenty-two carrats(92% purity), which started aexchanged for full weight Sovereigns. Since so
new standard of what is referred to these daysmuch remolding of old coins took place, old British
as "crown gold", a title still used today in both thegold coins are often very rare and have a high
UK and the United States. The content of theirvalue to numismatists.
gold was reduced a few more times until it wasBritish Sovereigns are highly valed because of
fixed at 7.322 grams, in other words 0.2354 troytheir historical and cultural character. Numismatists
oz.love them and they have tremendous meaning to
A number of varying denominations of Sovereigncollectors based on their historical and cultural
gold coins have been minted by the British Royalheritage.. But old British sovereigns might not
Mint, including 1/2 sovereigns with a nominal valuesuitable for investors who just want to seek
of 10 shillings (1/2 pound sterling), doubleprofits rather than be hobbyists. Investors like
sovereign coins with an official value of 2 poundsthose are likely better off buying only bullion gold
sterling, and 5x British Sovereigns with a nominalcoins and not collectors' coins, because they don't
value of 5 pounds sterling. Then in 2009 thecare that much about aesthetics. Soverigns
Mintfor the first time has issued 1/4 Sovereignminted in recent times would be a better idea.
coins with a nominal value of five shillings.But even if buying bullion sovereigns as an
Obviously the official value is not related to theirinvestor, one possible downside of these British
real value in modern times.gold coins is the unusual gold content of 7.322
These British gold coins were minted in largegrams, or 0.2354 ounces, which is written
quantities until the First World War, at which timenowhere on the coin. This could make Sovereigns
the UK pound was taken off of the goldless liquid than a 1 oz. coin, particularly outside of
standard.Up until '32, sovereigns were producedthe UKwhere British Sovereigns are widely known.
only at branch mints in British CommonwealthThey can be sold to bullion dealers, because they
countries, specifically at mints in Melbourne,will be familiar with them. But if there is ever an
Sydney, Perth, Bombay, Ottawa, and Pretoria.economic meltdown and you need immediate
Production ceased until 1957.liquidity for daily transactions, sovereigns may not
British Sovereigns started to be once againbe widely recognized. They are certainly still a
minted in 1957, to end the devaluing of thegreat investment vehicle, but I would not rely on
Sovereigns' value by counterfitting crooks.them to be liquid in times of great upheaval. Have
Up until '82, Soveregin British gold coins weresome other standard weighted coins as well.
produced as standard bullion, but between 1982Learn more about these treasured British gold
and 1999 were minted only as proofs forcoins.