In 1871, the deputy master of the mint, Charles Fremantle, restored the Pistrucci George and Dragon design for the sovereign to embellish the coin. [57] The return of St. George was approved by the Queen and approved by an Order in Council of January 14, 1871. The two models were minted side by side in London from 1871 to 1874 and in Australian mints until 1887, after which only the Pistrucci model was used. [58] The saint returned to the rarely minted two- and five-pound coins in 1887 and was placed on the semi-sovereign in 1893. [59] Wyong`s «youth`s head» by Queen Victoria for the sovereign`s bow was minted from 1838 to 1887, when it was replaced by the «jubilee head» by Joseph Boehm. This obverse was criticized and replaced in 1893 by Thomas Brock`s «Old Head».[60] Victoria`s death in 1901 gave rise to a new front for her son and successor Edward VII.[61] by George William de Saulles, who began production in 1902; Edward`s death in 1910 necessitated a new obverse for his son George V of Bertram Mackennal. Pistrucci`s George and Dragon design continued at the rear. In the 1660s, after the restoration of Charles II and the subsequent mechanization of the Royal Mint, a new twenty-shilling gold coin was issued.[62] It didn`t have a special name at first, but the public soon called it Guinea and it became the accepted term.

[6] Coins at that time were valued according to their precious metal content, and the price of gold to silver rose soon after Guinea was issued. So it was a trade of 21 shillings or even six pence more. The value of the coin, which was popular in trade, was set by the government at 21 silver shillings in 1717 and was revised downwards, although in practice this did not happen. [7] The term sovereign, which refers to a coin, was no longer used – it does not appear in Samuel Johnson`s dictionary, compiled in the 1750s. [8] As Britain headed for war during the July 1914 crisis, many tried to convert Bank of England notes into gold, and the bank`s metal reserves rose from £27 million on July 29 to £11 million on August 1. After declaring war on Germany on August 4, the government distributed one-pound and ten-shilling notes instead of sovereign and semi-sovereign notes. [76] Restrictions were introduced on the shipment of gold abroad and the casting of coins became a criminal offence. [77] Not everyone was enthusiastic about switching from gold to paper: J.J. Cullimore Allen recalled in his 1965 book on sovereigns that he made his first pay after switching to bank notes, with workers having doubts about bank notes and initially asking to be paid in gold.

Allen converted five sovereigns from his own pocket into banknotes, and the workers raised no further objections. [78] Conversion into gold was not prohibited, but Chancellor David Lloyd George made it clear that such actions would be unpatriotic and would harm the war effort. Few insisted on paying in gold in the face of such appeals, and by mid-1915 the monarch was rarely seen in London commerce. The play was depicted on propaganda posters calling for support for the war. [76] In April 2019, this Sovereign 1817 (pictured above) with MS62 in an NGC plastic carrier fetched £2,520 in our UK gold section. Pistrucci`s drawing for the Sovereign`s back shows Saint George on horseback. His left hand squeezes the horse`s bridle, and he wears no armor except on his lower legs and feet, with his toes bare. Additional protection is provided by the helmet, behind which swims a banner or hair flag in case of early problems.

Behind the knight also flows his chlamys or cloak; It is fixed at the front by a fibula. George`s right shoulder carries a balteus to hang the gladius, the sword he holds in his right hand. [22] Otherwise, he is naked[23] – the art critic John Ruskin later found it strange that the saint was naked in such a violent encounter. [24] The saint`s horse seems half attacking, half shrunk before the dragon, wounded by George`s spear and in agony. [23] A sovereign of gold is literally worth its weight in gold, which is known as the value of gold. One piece usually weighs 7.98 g. A Sovereign gold coin is minted in 22k gold, which means it consists of 91.67% fine gold. Each ruler contains 7.32 grams of fine gold. In February 2015, we sold these 1818 semi-sovereigns for a total of £460 (below).

The discovery of gold in Australia in 1851 soon led the local population to request the establishment of a branch of the Royal Mint in the settlements of the region. The Adelaide authorities did not wait for London to act, but set up an investigation office that became known as «Adelaide Pound». In 1853, an Order in Council approved the creation of the Sydney Mint; the Melbourne Mint followed in 1872 and the Perth Mint in 1899. [64] The law governing currency in New South Wales came into force on July 18, 1855, and stipulated that gold coins were to be called sovereign and semi-sovereign. They must also have the same weight, finesse and value as the other rules. A new armorial of the signs was commissioned for the reverse by the first sovereign of Victoria, which is more of a shield than the traditional design of St. George.[65] .