Australia Double Sovereign 2018, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Perth Mint’s annual Australia Sovereign (also called the Australian Sovereign) is a prestigious 22-carat gold coin featuring a design inspired by historic sovereigns made at the Sydney Mint between 1855 and 1866. As the first overseas branch of Britain’s Royal Mint, the Sydney Mint was opened in 1855 to make sovereign coins from Australian gold. For the first 11 years they were distinguished from London versions by a specially prepared "colonial" design. A testament to the skill of Australia’s early minters, these highly successful issues continue to attract significant interest among modern collectors.

The regular coin has the same specifications as the British gold sovereign, which is a continuation of the Imperial (pre-decimal) sovereign - produced, among others, by the Perth Mint between 1899 and 1931 when it was a branch of the Royal Mint.

Since 2018, the Perth Mint also issues a Double Sovereign, which has the same specifications as the British Double Sovereign; its gold content is slightly lower than a half ounce of gold (0.4712 AGW), with 22 carat purity.

This is the first issue of the Australia Double Sovereign.

The Mint says about it:
This extraordinary modern commemorative pays homage to the rich heritage and rarity of the double sovereign. Double the weight of a traditional sovereign, its reverse portrays historic motifs originally seen on the Sydney Mint’s "colonial" sovereign of 1855. Nominally valued at two pounds, double sovereigns appeared in Britain during the 1820s. Featuring Benedetto Pistrucci’s classic portrayal of St George and the dragon, these coins were minted only twice in Australia - in 1887 and 1902.