Sovereign 1932, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

A gold coin (22.05 mm diameter with milled edge) featuring the effigy of King George V facing left; around, GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT: OMN: REX F:D: IND: IMP:.

The reverse features St. George on horseback holding a short sword in his right hand, the horse rearing to right over a fallen dragon which has a broken lance in its chest; in exergue, the date, 1932 and the artist's initials B.P.; the mint mark is in the ground above the middle of the date.

1932 was the last date of gold sovereign issued for King George V. There were none released for Edward VIII, and none for George VI, except for those in the 4-coin gold sets issued for the Coronation in 1937. Similarly none were released for Queen Elizabeth II until 1957, so that 1932 was the last date of sovereign to be issued for a quarter of a century.

All George V sovereigns from 1911 to 1928 use the same "first head" portrait, but those issued for the four years from 1929 to 1932 used a new smaller head portrait, making these quite desirable from a type collectors point of view.

Only the Pretoria Mint issued sovereigns in 1932, the Melbourne and Perth Mints having stopped the previous year. The S.A. (South Africa) mint mark is visible on the ground above the centre of the date. This was the last year Pretoria Mint struck sovereigns.

The mintage figure for 1932 was quite low at just over 1 million, compared with over 8 million for the previous year from the Pretoria Mint only, and over 30 million in some years.