History of the Gold Sovereign

During the reign of King Henry VII, the gold sovereign emerged, weighing 15.55 grams, and containing 23 carats of gold. Its face value was 1 pound sterling, and it was minted until 1604.

When James I ascended to the English throne, he introduced a new sovereign coin to mark his accession. However, the following year, after proclaiming himself King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, he rebranded the sovereign as distinct twenty-shilling piece called the Unite.

The production of the sovereign coin, which had been halted for over 2 centuries, was revived in 1817 during the reign of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland. The modern sovereign maintains the same face value, but with a different weight of 7.9881 grams and a gold content of 22 carats.

Treaty of Versailles 1919

The coin was minted in 1919, coinciding with Germany's signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty's provisions, Germany was compelled to pay a staggering £6.6 billion in reparations for the damages caused during World War I. Additionally, Germany was forced to reduce its army to a mere 100,000 soldiers, limit its battleship capacity, surrender land, and cease the production of armoured cars, tanks, submarines, airplanes, and poison gas. The League of Nations held Germany responsible for initiating the war and held them accountable for the extensive destruction that occurred between 1914 and 1918.

Obverse

The obverse of the 1919 sovereign bears the portrait of King George V. This left facing bare head bust, with the letters B.M. in truncation, was created by Australian designer, Bertram Mackennal.

Reverse

Benedetto Pistrucci's traditional St George and the Dragon design, which was first introduced in 1817, features on the reverse of the 1919 sovereign. His B.P. initials are set to the right of the date in exergue. The S mint mark denotes that the coin was struck in Sydney, Australia, this is located in the ground below the dragon.

Specification

Metal	Gold
Diameter	22.05mm
Weight / Size	Full
Gold Weight Troy Ounces	0.235
Fineness / Carat	0.917 / 22
Mintage Figure	1,835,000
Date	1919
Marsh Reference	279
Obverse Designer	Edgar Bertram MacKennal
Reverse Designer	Benedetto Pistrucci
Issuing Monarch	George V (1910-1936)
Mint / Brand	Sydney Mint
Country	United Kingdom

Obverse Grade

Reverse Grade

Price

Availability

AU-58

£633.45

In Stock

MS-62

£648.45

In Stock

Date

Obverse

Reverse

Price

13 June 2024

AU-58

£549.73

04 July 2024

MS-62

£575.60

Terms of Sale - Key Points

You can find more information on payment and identification requirements.

Bullion coins are provided as is and on occasion may have some minor scratches or edge knocks. These are not regarded as faulty or damaged goods as their precious metal content and value as a bullion coin is not affected. Any coin sold for a value less than a 180% intrinsic is considered a bullion coin.

Gold investment products are VAT free. Silver investment products are inclusive of VAT at the current rate unless otherwise stated.

All investment products are based on the live precious metal price. Prices will be fixed once the item has been added to the basket and recalculates just before checking out.

If your product is not a graded coin and is considered a bullion item, it should be noted that these are bought and sold on low premiums over their precious metal content and not solely for aesthetic purposes; therefore, some products may have edge knocks and/or marks. These edge knocks and marks do not alter the specifications of the coins.

Please note that all investment products are exempt from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and therefore customers do not have the right to cancel their order once the order has been accepted. If customers no longer wish to go ahead with their investment purchase, there is an option to sell the products back to Chard (1964) Ltd instead. View our current buy back prices.

View our full Terms & Conditions.

Delivery Information

We aim to dispatch orders within 48 hours of receiving cleared funds. Our standard delivery methods are as follows.

Orders over £60 - Fully Insured Delivery.

Within the UK and BFPO - Next day fully insured and tracked. Delivery starts from £6.

Orders under £60

Within the UK and BFPO - Royal Mail 2nd Class. Your order will normally arrive within 2-3 working days. Delivery starts from £3.50.

If you wish to have your order sent by an alternative method (e.g., Saturday Guaranteed) please contact +441253343081 for more information. Please note, we will not dispatch high value orders over a bank holiday weekend.

For international delivery, please check with your local customs office for more information on custom duty and taxes.

Full delivery information can be found by clicking here.

Postal Insurance

We offer fully insured delivery on all special delivery options. We do need to pass on the cost of this insurance as it soon adds up shipping high value gold and silver products.

Orders under £1500 there is no additional fee.
Orders over £1500 we charge a fee in order to cover the increasing costs of insurance. For every £1500 we apply a £1 fee.

If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to call the showroom on +441253343081 and one of our team can discuss your purchase.

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1919 Gold Sovereign George V Australia Sydney Mint NGC Graded