2004 Proof Gold Sovereign 3 Coin Set Boxed

A 2004 gold Proof Sovereign 3-coin set from The Royal Mint. This coin features a Proof Double Sovereign (£2 coin), Sovereign and Half Sovereign.

The centrepiece of this three coin set is the Two Pound coin - the Double Sovereign. The Royal Mint often issues a commemorative £2 piece each year, and in 2004 the coin was created to commemorate Richard Trevithick and the 200th anniversary of the first Steam Locomotive.

The obverse of the coin is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Elizabeth II, while the reverse was designed by Robert Lowe. The design features the Pen-y-Darren surrounded by a cog, which represents the Industrial Revolution. The dates 1804 - 2004 are stated, as well as R. Trevithick and the words 'Invention. Industry. Progress.'.

Trevithick's locomotive, the Pen-y-Darren, was named after the Welsh mining site it was created for. So impressed was Samuel Homfray, the owner of the Pen-y-Darren Iron Works, that he bet his competitor Richard Crawshay, owner of the Cyfarthfa Iron Works, 500 Guineas that Trevithick could transport 10 tonnes of iron along the nine-mile stretch of the Merthyr Tydfil Tramline between their two sites. The bet was agreed, and on February 21st, 1804 the Pen-y-Darren completed the journey in a time of 4 hours and 5 minutes, carrying 10 tons of iron, five wagons and 70 men - including an engineering inspector to assess Trevithick's machine.

The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea is now the home of a full-scale working reconstruction of the Pen-y-Darren locomotive.

The 2004 set comes complete with its own Certificate of Authenticity. Bound in a good-looking case.