Learn About British Gold Sovereign Coins With Gold-Coin.com
November 16, 2009 - British Gold Sovereign coins were first minted in 1489, and the original variety was a 23-karat coin. British Sovereign gold coins were discontinued for a short time, but they have been minted every consecutive year since 1817. In the 15th century, Henry VIII ordered that Sovereign coins employ 22-karat purity, which is why the majority of British and US coins utilize this ratio of gold to alloy today.
Present-day British Gold Sovereign coins contain slightly less than a quarter of an ounce of pure gold, and the Royal London Mint also produces quarter sovereigns, half sovereigns, double sovereigns, and quintuple sovereigns. Only the sovereign and the half sovereign were ever commonly used for circulation as currency. The quarter sovereign was released in 2009, but the threat of a US government confiscation of bullion has kept that coin from becoming very popular in the United States.
In 1933, gold bullion coins like the British Sovereign were forcefully withdrawn from circulation by our government. President Franklin Roosevelt declared that a national financial emergency existed, so he seized US citizens’ gold bullion to shore up the falling dollar. Thousands of British Gold Sovereign coins were melted into numismatically worthless bars and shipped to Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Economists and gold analysts fear that another gold bullion confiscation could take place, so US investors who want protection from the falling dollar and our government may be better off investing in certified gold coins. Contact us directly to get a free copy of our Insider’s Guide To Gold Coin Investing, or to learn more about gold bullion confiscation.
Stewart Lawson
Senior Staff Writer - Gold-Coin.com
