The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin is a gold bullion coin produced in Great Britain. The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin has a currency value of 1 pound British Sterling, but has much more intrinsic value in its gold content. The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin is 91.67% gold, also known as 22kt or crown gold. The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin has a total gold weight of 0.2354 troy ounces of pure gold.
The design of the Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin changes periodically, but always displays a likeness of the British monarch. In Victorian Times, if a Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin was worn or damaged, it was removed from circulation and recoined. Because of this, even though there were billions of Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins struck, that number is inflated because it counts the recoined The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins.
Many Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins were left sitting in vaults in Great Britain, as half Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins were used in their stead. In 1891 a proclamation stated that any underweight Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin could be handed in, and replaced by a full weight Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin. At the same time, any Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin struck before 1837 was no longer considered legal tender. The recycled gold from the worn and outmoded Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins was recycled to make 13,680,486 half Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins in 1892 and 10,846,741 full sized Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins in 1900.
The Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin was produced in large quantities until World War I, at which time Great Britain no longer used the Gold Standard. At that point until 1932, Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins were still produced at branch mints in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bombay, and Pretoria. The exception to this was during 1925, when Great Britain produced Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins due to Winston Churchill’s failed attempt to bring Great Britton back to the Gold Standard. The last regular issue of these branch mintings was in 1932.
Production of the Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin resumed in 1957, due to an effort to keep Syria and Italy from counterfeiting Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins. Production of Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins continued most years up to 1982 as bullion coins. From then until 1999 proof Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins were produced, but since 2000 standard Great Britain Sovereign Gold Bullion Coins have been produced.
