Ascension Island is a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean which is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The currency of the island is the Saint Helena pound, fixed at parity with the pound sterling. The island has authorised some private mints to issue coins under its jurisdiction, which come in a variety of sizes - including the gold eight-sovereign, which has no counterpart in British coinage (the other denominations in the series are compatible with the British sovereign and its larger of fractional sizes), with composition of 22k gold. The nominal face value of the sovereign is £1, hence the eight-sovereign is denominated as one eight of a pound, or 12.5p (twelve and a half pence).
The coins are considered "Non-Circulating Legal Tender" and not "bullion", since they are issued at prices much higher than intrinsic value of their precious metal content. |
