Sovereign 1817, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information
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The 1817 sovereign of George III has a laureate head, with St. George and dragon reverse inside an inscribed garter. It is the first date of George III Sovereign, which makes it also the very first of the "modern" Sovereigns. Previously, gold coins called "Sovereigns" had been minted on and off between 1489 and 1604, whereupon James I (VI) changed the name of the 20/- gold piece to a "Unite". The modern sovereign was introduced in 1817 as part of a re-coinage at the end of the Napoleonic wars. From 1816 the silver coins no longer contained their intrinsic value of silver; they are therefore termed a "token coinage". The gold content of the sovereign was however retained at full metal value. The sovereign was a 20 shilling or 1 pound coin and was struck at the same standard, 22 carats, as the guinea it replaced. As the guinea was current at 21 shillings and the sovereign at 20, the weight of the sovereign was fixed at 20/21 that of the guinea. This gave the sovereign the the standard weight of 123 274/1000th grains. The coins were struck in the new Royal Mint building on Tower Hill with steam powered presses supplied by Messrs Boulton, Watt and Rennie. The reverse design of St. George and the dragon was developed by Benedetto Pistrucci. | ||||||||||||
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| London Mint Office coins. |
| Variety | Proof FDC (Marsh 1A) | |
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| Mintage | Issued: unknown. Rarity: R5 (9 to 14 examples known) | |
| Details | Milled edge proof. | |
| Variety | Medal alignment (Marsh 1B) | |
| Mintage | Issued: unknown (included in total). Rarity: R4 (15 to 25 examples known) | |
| Source | Edition | About | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Museums Victoria Collections | 2016 | Coin description | link | |
| Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mint | ||
| Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mintage | ||
| Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Varieties | Proof | |
| Marsh, The Gold Sovereign | 1980 | Varieties | Proof FDC, Medal alignment |
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| Royal Mint |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Currency | Pound Sterling (pre-decimal) |
| Coin Type | Sovereign (pre-Victorian) |
| Issued | 1817 |
| Monarch | King George III |
| Effigy | Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head) |
| Face Value | 1 (x Pound) |
| Total Mintage | 3,235,239 (3.2 million), Rarity: N (Normal) |
| Current | No; demonetised 1891 |
| Material | Gold |
| Designer | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
| Shape | Round |
| Size | 22.0500 mm |
| Thickness | 1.5200 mm |
| Mass | 7.9800 g |
| OCC ID | PNXY-DONZ-CPMG-OVRB |
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| Image | Details |
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Coin - Sovereign, George III, Great Britain, 1817
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Justine Philip Source |
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Coin - Sovereign, George III, Great Britain, 1817
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Justine Philip Source |
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Great Britain 1817 sovereign
Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Heritage Auction Galleries Source |
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Great Britain 1817 sovereign
Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Heritage Auction Galleries Source |
| Source | Reference ID |
|---|---|
| Marsh, The Gold Sovereign | 1, 1A, 1B |
| Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World | Great Britain 230 |
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Great Britain KM# 674 |
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | 3785 and 3785A (Type B) |