Sovereign 1872 Shield, Coin from United Kingdom

Sovereign 1872 Shield, Coin from United Kingdom (demonetised 1971)

Coin	Sovereign 1872 Shield

A gold coin (22.05 mm diameter with milled edge) featuring a head of Queen Victoria facing left with a plain band and fillet in her hair, the date, 1872 below; the artist's initials, W.W., on neck truncation; around, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA.

The reverse features the royal shield of arms, garnished and crowned with the mint mark (if any) below the crossing point of the wreath and above the rose; around, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:

This was the first year that the Melbourne mint struck coins. Julius Hogarth was employed in 1872 to prepare dies locally in case problems arose with getting dies from London. He also modified unused dies bearing the date 1871 to read 1872 - in this case somewhat unsuccessfully as the original date can still be seen.

Mint	Mint mark	Total Mintage
Royal Mint	No mint mark	13,486,708 (13.5 million), Rarity: C (Common)
Sydney Mint	Letter S	1,815,000 (1.8 million), Rarity: N (Normal)
Melbourne Mint	Letter M	748,000, Rarity: R (Rare)

Obverse

Young head of Queen Victoria facing left wearing ribbon (double fillet) in her hair; the hair is collected up into a knot behind; around, the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA (Victoria, by the Grace of God); the designer's initials W.W. (for William Wyon) are in relief on the neck truncation.

In the field below the neck truncation, the date 1872.

Obverse Inscription	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1872

Reverse

The Ensigns Armorial of the United Kingdom within a plain shield quartered with the arms of England (1 & 4), Scotland (2) and Ireland (3), surmounted by a crown. A branch of laurel is shown on each side of the shield, tied at the bottom by a ribbon. At the bottom, the Thistle, Rose and Shamrock (symbols of Scotland, England and Ireland respectively) are placed with a small flower stop on each side.

Around, the rest of the monarch's legend (continuing from the obverse): BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF: (Queen of the Britains, Defender of the Faith).

A die number (for coins minted in London) or the mint mark: S (for coins minted at the Royal Mint Sydney branch) or M (Melbourne branch) is located between the ribbon beneath the shield and the rose. Some coins minted in London have no die number.

Known die numbers (as per Marsh 2017): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112 (103 not confirmed).

Reverse Inscription	BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:

Edge	Milled	Edge Inscription	None

Notes

Note: the mintage figure is for both the St. George and the Shield reverse minted in this year, as no separate figures are available.

Type IA (Royal Mint, no die number), IB (Royal Mint with die number), IC (Melbourne Mint) or ID (Sydney Mint) by Marsh.

References to additional information:

[Book] Remick, Jerome. The Guide Book and Catalogue to British Commonwealth Coins, Regency Coins and Stamps Ltd, Winnipeg, Canada, 1971, p55, p258
[Book] Marsh, Michael A. The Gold Sovereign. Cambridge Coins, Cambridge, UK, 1980. (2017 ed. pp 27-46)

Included in Set
150th Anniversary Melbourne Mint 1872 & 2022 Gold Sovereign Set, mintage 20 2 coins: Sovereign 1872, M mint mark, Australia Sovereign 2022

Sovereign 1872 Shield: Known varieties

Variety	No die number, Royal Mint London (Marsh 47)
Mintage	Issued: unknown (included in total). Rarity: C (Common)
Variety	Die number 65/64, Royal Mint (Marsh 56A)
Mintage	Issued: unknown (included in total). Rarity: R4 (15 to 25 examples known)
Details	Die number 65 struck over 64.
Variety	Medal alignment, Melbourne Mint (Marsh 59B)
Mintage	Issued: unknown (included in total). Rarity: R3 (Extremely Rare)
Variety	Overdate 1872/1, Melbourne Mint (Marsh 59A)
Images
Mintage	Issued: unknown (included in total). Rarity: R4 (15 to 25 examples known)
Details	Julius Hogarth was employed in 1872 to prepare dies locally in case problems arose with getting dies from London. He also modified unused dies bearing the date 1871 to read 1872 - in this case somewhat unsuccessfully as the original date can still be seen.

Sovereign 1872 Shield: References to Information Used

Source	Edition	About	Link	Notes
Marsh, The Gold Sovereign	2017	Coin description
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mint		Royal Mint London
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mint		Sydney Mint and Melbourne Mint
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mintage		Royal Mint mintage
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mintage		Sydney Mint and Melbourne Mint mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Varieties		No die number (Royal Mint London)
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Varieties	link	Overdate 1872/1 (Melbourne Mint)
Marsh, The Gold Sovereign		Varieties		Medal alignment, Melbourne Mint

Showing 100 from a total of 148 coins of type: Sovereign (Pre-Decimal)

Coin Name	Mintage	Effigy	Legend
Sovereign 1817	3,235,239	Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head)	GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: 1817
Sovereign 1818	2,347,230	Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head)	GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: 1818
Sovereign 1819	3,574	Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head)	GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: 1819
Sovereign 1820	931,994	Portrait by Benedetto Pistrucci (Laureate Head)	GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: 1820
Sovereign 1821	9,405,114	King George IV - Laureate Head	GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1822	5,356,787	King George IV - Laureate Head	GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1823	616,770	King George IV - Laureate Head	GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1824 St George	3,767,904	King George IV - Laureate Head	GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1824 Shield (Pattern)	unknown	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1824
Sovereign 1825 St George	4,200,343	King George IV - Laureate Head	GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1825 Shield	4,200,343	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1825
Sovereign 1826	5,724,196	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1826
Sovereign 1827	2,266,629	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1827
Sovereign 1828	386,182	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1828
Sovereign 1829	2,444,652	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1829
Sovereign 1830 George IV	2,387,881	King George IV - Bare Head	GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA 1830
Sovereign 1830 William IV	unknown	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1831	598,697	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1832	3,737,065	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1833	1,225,269	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1835	723,441	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1836	1,714,349	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1837 William IV	1,172,984	King William IV - Bare Head	GULIELMUS IIII BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:
Sovereign 1837 Victoria	unknown	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1837
Sovereign 1838	2,718,694	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1838
Sovereign 1839	503,695	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1839
Sovereign 1841	124,054	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1841
Sovereign 1842	4,865,375	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1842
Sovereign 1843	5,981,968	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1843
Sovereign 1844	3,000,445	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1844
Sovereign 1845	3,800,845	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1845
Sovereign 1846	3,802,947	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1846
Sovereign 1847	4,667,126	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1847
Sovereign 1848	2,246,701	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1848
Sovereign 1849	1,755,399	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1849
Sovereign 1850	1,402,039	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1850
Sovereign 1851	4,013,624	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1851
Sovereign 1852	8,053,435	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1852
Sovereign 1853	10,597,993	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1853
Sovereign 1854	3,589,611	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1854
Sovereign 1855	8,448,482	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1855
Sovereign 1856	4,806,160	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1856
Sovereign 1857	4,495,748	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1857
Sovereign 1858	803,234	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1858
Sovereign 1859	1,715,142	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1859
Sovereign 1860	2,555,958	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1860
Sovereign 1861	7,624,736	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1861
Sovereign 1862	7,836,413	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1862
Sovereign 1863	5,921,669	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1863
Sovereign 1864	8,656,352	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1864
Sovereign 1865	1,450,238	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1865
Sovereign 1866	4,047,288	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1866
Sovereign 1868	1,653,384	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1868
Sovereign 1869	6,441,322	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1869
Sovereign 1870	2,189,960	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1870
Sovereign 1871 Shield	11,581,250	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1871
Sovereign 1871 St George	11,581,250	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D:
Sovereign 1872 Shield	16,049,708	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1872
Sovereign 1872 St George	16,049,708	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1873 Shield	3,846,215	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1873
Sovereign 1873 St George	4,598,215	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1874 Shield	1,893,713	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1874
Sovereign 1874 St George	3,792,713	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1875 Shield	2,122,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1875
Sovereign 1875 St George	4,010,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1876 St George	7,055,866	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1877 Shield	1,590,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1877
Sovereign 1877 St George	1,487,002	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1878 Shield	1,259,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1878
Sovereign 1878 St George	3,262,275	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1879 Shield	1,366,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1879
Sovereign 1879 St George	4,126,013	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1880 Shield	4,511,800	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1880
Sovereign 1880 St George	8,161,880	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1881 Shield	3,684,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1881
Sovereign 1881 St George	3,684,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1882 Shield	3,764,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1882
Sovereign 1882 St George	3,764,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1883 Shield	1,535,450	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1883
Sovereign 1883 St George	3,158,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1884 Shield	4,537,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1884
Sovereign 1884 St George	6,306,635	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1885 Shield	4,442,500	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1885
Sovereign 1885 St George	5,160,223	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1886 Shield	4,568,500	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1886
Sovereign 1886 St George	4,568,500	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1887 Shield	2,915,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1887
Sovereign 1887 St George, Young head	2,915,000	Queen Victoria - Young Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITANNIAR : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1887 St George, Jubilee head	3,054,077	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1888	7,294,424	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D :
Sovereign 1889	13,251,455	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1890	11,811,424	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1891	11,675,068	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1892	13,430,470	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1893 Jubilee head	3,147,352	Queen Victoria - Jubilee Head	VICTORIA D : G : BRITT : REG : F : D
Sovereign 1893 Veiled head	10,159,433	Queen Victoria - Veiled Head	VICTORIA DEI . GRA . BRITT . REGINA . FID . DEF . IND . IMP .
Sovereign 1894	11,016,485	Queen Victoria - Veiled Head	VICTORIA DEI . GRA . BRITT . REGINA . FID . DEF . IND . IMP
Sovereign 1895	9,209,186	Queen Victoria - Veiled Head	VICTORIA DEI . GRA . BRITT . REGINA . FID . DEF . IND . IMP
Sovereign 1896	10,334,997	Queen Victoria - Veiled Head	VICTORIA DEI . GRA . BRITT . REGINA . FID . DEF . IND . IMP
Sovereign 1897	7,662,565	Queen Victoria - Veiled Head	VICTORIA DEI . GRA . BRITT . REGINA . FID . DEF . IND . IMP
Showing 1 to 100 of 148 Coins. Start Previous 1 2 Next End

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Sovereign 1872 Shield: Details

Country	United Kingdom
Currency	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)
Coin Type	Sovereign (Shield)
Issued	1872
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Effigy	Queen Victoria - Portrait by William Wyon (Young Head)
Face Value	1 (x Pound)
Total Mintage	16,049,708 (16.0 million), Rarity: C (Common)
Current	No; demonetised 1971
Material	0.9167 Gold
Designer	Jean Baptiste Merlen
Technology	Milled (machine-made)
Shape	Round
Size	22.0500 mm
Thickness	1.5200 mm
Mass	7.9881 g
OCC ID	WLGV-BELD-CBLR-EMPX

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Sovereign 1872 Shield: Photos

Image	Details
	Great Britain 1872 sovereign Fr-387i Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Stack's-Bowers Notes: Royal Mint London. Die number 98. Source
	Great Britain 1872 sovereign Fr-387i Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Stack's-Bowers Notes: Royal Mint London. Source
	Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Notes: Melbourne Mint (mint mark M). Source
	Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Notes: Melbourne Mint. Source
	Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Melbourne Mint (mint mark M). Source
	Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Melbourne Mint, 1872/1 overdate. Source

Sovereign 1872 Shield: Catalogue Reference IDs

Source	Reference ID
Marsh, The Gold Sovereign	47 (London, no die number), 56, 56A (die number)
Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World	Great Britain 245 (Royal Mint London)
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	Great Britain KM# 736.2 (Royal Mint London)
Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom	3853B (Royal Mint London)
Marsh, The Gold Sovereign	59, 59A, 59B (Melbourne Mint), 70 (Sydney Mint)
Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World	Australia 11 (Sydney Mint) and 12 (Melbourne Mint)
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	Australia KM# 6 (Sydney Mint and Melbourne Mint)
Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom	3854 (Melbourne Mint) and 3855 (Sydney Mint)
McDonald, Australian Coins and Banknotes	McD 119 (Sydney Mint) and McD 120 (Melbourne Mint)
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	S50 (Sydney Mint) and S51 (Melbourne Mint)

Relevant Links

Museums Victoria: Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872

Museums Victoria: Coin - Sovereign, Victoria, Australia, 1872 (overdate)

Gold Sovereigns: 1872 Gold Sovereign Victoria Young Head Shield

Victoria 1872 Gold Sovereigns

American Numismatic Society: Gold sovereign, London (England)

Sovereign 1872 Shield, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information