Gold Sovereign

Gold Sovereign Coins

The Sovereign in its modern form dates from 1817, when it was introduced as part of the Great Recoinage that put Britain back on a stable currency after the Napoleonic wars. It replaced the guinea as the country's standard gold coin, and for the next century it circulated as everyday money across Britain and much of the Empire, struck not only in London but at branch mints in Australia, India, Canada and South Africa. It is the oldest and best known of the British gold coins.

The reverse carries Benedetto Pistrucci's St George slaying the dragon, designed for the 1817 issue and still in use today, which makes it one of the longest serving coin designs anywhere in the world. That continuity, combined with a weight and purity unchanged for more than two hundred years, is why the Sovereign is recognised and traded far beyond the country that issues it.

Like all investment grade gold, the gold Sovereign is exempt from VAT, so the price you pay reflects the gold content and a small premium rather than being inflated by sales tax.

Gold Sovereigns are British legal tender, which makes them exempt from Capital Gains Tax for UK residents no matter how many you buy or sell. All Sovereigns dated 1837 onwards qualify, and earlier pieces may still be exempt as chattels. Because the Sovereign is a comparatively small unit of gold, investors often use it to realise part of a holding a little at a time without incurring a CGT liability.

Gold Sovereign Coin Specification

The Sovereign is a British gold coin manufactured by The Royal Mint.

The Sovereign has been struck to the same standard since 1817: 22 carat gold at 916.7 fineness, weighing 7.98 grams and containing 7.32 grams of pure gold. The 22 carat alloy, hardened with copper, was chosen because the coin was made to circulate and needed to survive daily handling, and the Royal Mint has kept to it even though the Sovereign has not been everyday money for a century. What has changed over the years is the portrait of the monarch on the obverse, and occasional commemorative reverses that replace the St George design for a single year.

Denominations & Sizes

The Sovereign gives its name to a family of coins running from a quarter of a Sovereign up to five. The Half Sovereign appeared alongside the full coin in 1817, the Double and Quintuple followed in the 1820s as high value pieces, and the Quarter Sovereign is a modern addition introduced in 2009. All five share the same 22 carat gold and the same proportional relationship, so a Double Sovereign holds exactly twice the gold of a Sovereign and a Half exactly half.

Sovereigns for Collectors

Alongside the bullion coins, The Royal Mint strikes proof Sovereigns each year to a far higher standard of finish, in limited numbers and usually boxed. Older Sovereigns are collected by date, monarch and mint, and we list them by specific year for anyone building a set rather than buying purely for the gold.

Gold Sovereign Price

Gold Sovereign prices are derived from the value of the gold each coin contains. Each gold Sovereign coin weighs 7.98 grams, and is struck to a purity of 22 carat, meaning it contains 7.32 grams of pure gold.

Gold Sovereign prices can vary thanks to the coin's history and numismatic appeal, with certain years or designs being particularly desirable with collectors. The price of a new gold Sovereign coin will typically be based on today's gold price, with a small premium to cover the cost of manufacturing and supply of the coin. Older or rare gold Sovereign coins can cost considerably more than the UK gold price. With the global price of gold being primarily calculated in dollars, periods in which the pound is weak versus the dollar will see UK gold Sovereign prices rise, while a strong pound would see lower prices in the UK.

Our gold Sovereign prices are displayed in real-time, updating every two minutes in-line with the current gold spot price. The gold Sovereign price shown includes fully insured delivery.

Gold Sovereign Value

Investors often ask what is the value of a gold Sovereign? British gold Sovereign coins have a face value of 1 Pound. It is important to note that the face value is a nominal amount that has no bearing on the actual value of the coin. As mentioned, the gold Sovereign coin's main value can usually be worked out based on the current gold price. It is this simplicity that makes gold bullion coins appealing. They are bought and sold based on their intrinsic metal value without having to worry about any numismatic value and a more complicated selling process.

You can always find a simple benchmark value for a gold Sovereign thanks to the publicly available spot price. The value of a gold Sovereign is therefore generally the same regardless of the year and is just based on the metal content. Some years of gold Sovereign might command a further premium. A lower mintage, or special design could see their value increase beyond their metal content.

The easiest way to work out a gold Sovereign value is to use its gold weight of 7.32 grams and multiply that by the current gold spot price in grams. As a coin with a purity of 916.7 fineness, it's important to calculate the 22 carat gold Sovereign value, to ensure you have an accurate price.

How Much are Gold Sovereign Coins Worth?

If you are wondering how much are gold Sovereign coins worth, a simple rule of thumb is that a gold Sovereign has 7.32g of pure gold, 0.23 of a troy ounce. If you see the gold price in troy ounces you can therefore work out how much a gold Sovereign is worth quite quickly by dividing the troy ounce spot price by four.