subject: History Facts: The British Gold Sovereign [print this page] The first British sovereign was minted in 1489 under Tudor King Henry VII. Back then the sovereign had on one side the monarch sitting on the thrown facing the crowd. This is the reason why the coin was named like this.
Sovereigns were struck in 1509 for Henry VIII. The actually reason why the coins were struck was that Henry embarked in a spending frenzy and now he was facing the accurate need for money. This excessive spending led to a flow of gold and silver in Europe. He is also responsible for debasing and devaluating British money when he decided to reduce the precious metal content from 23 karats to 22 karats.
The design that can now be found on the back of the sovereigns is that of St. George slaying a dragon and the portrait of the monarch on the front. This design was created about 200 years ago, in 1816 under George III. Up to the date when Britain renounced at gold standard in 1932, the gold coins were minted continuously. During the reign of Edward VII and George V the most well known British sovereigns were minted. They are probably the most appreciated pre- 1933 gold coins.
The sovereigns became the best known and the most widely distributed gold coin in the world as the British Empire expanded under Queen Victoria during the 1800s. In 1816 the sovereign as we know it today was minted. It is true that in the beginning it was only minted in London, but then Africa and Australia became gold producers and so it started to be minted all over the world. Mints in Pretoria, Bombay, Ottawa, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth minted hundreds and thousands of sovereigns during late 1800s and early 1900s.
Gold sovereigns circulated as money all over the world. The coins were the ones that created and preserved the strength of the British Empire. Sovereigns can still be found today and they are most valuable. These gold coins can be exactly what you are looking for if you plan to invest in gold. Nonetheless, there are many other ways in which one can buy physical gold.
