2009 Gold Quarter Sovereign Elizabeth II Proof

A new denomination in the gold sovereign series. This is the first year the gold quarter sovereign has ever been issued, and apart from two patterns produced in 1853, quarter sovereigns had never been minted before.

Available in proof and uncirculated versions.

See the rest of the 2009 Sovereign Collection.

Expert Numismatists

The issue limit for the proof is 10,000 pieces, and for the "bullion" version 25,000 pieces.

Buying from us you also get the benefit of buying from expert professional numismatists who have been in the business for over 50 years.

Benedetto Pistrucci

The reverse dies for sovereigns, half sovereigns, double sovereigns and quintuple sovereigns were remastered and recut in 2007.

For 2009, we are told that the reverse dies will revert to dies produced from masters in the Royal Mint Museum, and possibly worked on by Benedetto Pistrucci himself.

Gold proof quarter sovereigns are still supplied to the trade and we are able to offer discounts on the official Royal Mint issue price.

According to the Royal Mint:

The Quarter Sovereign Victorian Pattern Pieces

The coinage reform in the reign of George III made no provision for a quarter-sovereign, the denomination of five shillings being satisfactorily served by the large silver crown piece. By 1853, however, there was a perceived need for a more conveniently-sized coin of five shillings and, in initial trials, attractive little quarter-sovereigns were struck as pattern pieces.

The quarter-sovereign pattern pieces of 1853 bore the lovely Young Head portrait of Queen Victoria while two different reverse designs were considered.

The first reverse design features a Crowned Royal Shield of Arms with the text 'QUARTER SOVEREIGN 1853' around the edge.

The second reverse design features the text of the proposed denomination and text in the center - 'FIVE SHILLINGS 1853' whilst a crown features at the top and a thistle, rose and clover features at the bottom of the reverse.

The proposal was abandoned probably because the coin was so small it could far too easily be lost between a thumb and forefinger. There was also likely to be the problem that it would wear too fast in circulation as was indeed the case with the half sovereign.

Those exquisite Victorian trial pieces now form a treasured part of the Royal Mint collection.

Now in 2009, a quarter sovereign has been made available to collectors for the very first time. Since it takes its place in the sovereign family, Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon design features on the reverse while the obverse bears the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS.

The obverse bears the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS.

The reverse features Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon design.