2016-12-22 Thu

The great reform of UK’s coinage took place 200 years ago with the introduction of the Coinage act of 1816. The coin featured the famous St. George and the Dragon design by Royal Mint engraver Benedetto Pistrucci. The reform led to more scrutiny and efficiency. The Royal Mint was shifted to London at Tower Hill and was equipped with modern steam-powered machinery.

The gold standard was set and a 20-shilling piece was introduced as a new denomination - the pound. The 21-shilling gold guinea was also in circulation at that time due to which a different design was essential.

Pistrucci created the medieval image of St. George, instead of a Greek interpretation, with bare and muscular features without the usual chain mail and armour.

The words “Great Britain” or “United Kingdom” weren’t inscribed on them, nevertheless, it was a sovereign.

The standard sovereign of 1817 was composed of .9167 fine gold and weighed 7.988 grams, with an actual gold content of 7.32 grams. Quarter, half and double sovereign coins joining a 5-sovereign coin were also introduced. Very soon the sovereign became accepted worldwide.

When World War I began, citizens were asked to give up their sovereigns for their country. They were replaced by paper money and they were no longer used for daily transactions.

The collected gold sovereigns were then used to pay war debts to the United States, according to Marsh by melting them and turning them into ingots.

No sovereigns were struck after 1932 to cope up with the Great Depression during World War II. Since 1957, these coins were struck almost annually but for collectors and investors.