British Bullion Gold Coins

One of the best known and most sought after collections of gold coins in the world are the classic collection of British gold coins - Gold Sovereigns.. With a long and rich history, old British sovereign coins are highly popular amongst numismatic collectors. And Sovereigns minted in more recent years are of big interest to investors.

These British Gold Coins began being produced in 1489 by King Henry the Seventh. Their value was 1 pounsd sterling, aka twenty-shillings. However, since they were used for official purposes and not as regularly circulated coins, there is no face value indicated on the coins.

The first generation of British Sovereigns were composed of twenty three carrat gold, in other words 96% pure bullion, and the gold contents weighed 15.6 grams, in other words one half troy ounce. While Henry the Eight reigned, Sovereigns' purity level was reduced to twenty two carats(92% purity), which started a new standard of what is referred to these days as "crown gold", a common standard for gold coins in both the UK and the US. The content of their gold was reduced a few more times until it was fixed at 7.322 grams, in other words 0.2354 troy oz.

A number of varying denominations of Sovereign gold coins have been minted by the British Royal Mint, including half sovereigns with a nominal value of 10 shillings (a half pound sterling), double sovereign coins with an official value of 2 pounds sterling, and quintuple Sovereigns with an official value of five pounds sterling Aand then in 2009 the Mintfor the first time has released 1/4 Sovereign coins with a nominal value of five shillings. These British gold coins were widely produced until the First World War, at which time the UK pound was taken off of the gold standard.Up until '32, sovereigns were produced only at branch mints in British Commonwealth countries, specifically at mints in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bombay, Ottawa, and Pretoria.

Until 1982, sovereigns were minted as circulated bullion, but between '82 and '99 were released only as proof coins for collectors. Since 2000, Sovereigns have once again been minted as bullion coins, whose value depends mainly on their weight in gold.

As stated above, British Gold Sovereign coins have a nominal value. However, their real value is decided by both the present market price of the weight of their gold content as well as unstable numismatic value, that changes drasticallydepending on what coin it is and how much demand there is.

Newly minted bullion coins should theoretically be priced at around the market value of their weight with a small premium, but Sovereigns from a long time ago can sell for a lot more. Since so much reminting took place, old British gold coins are often very rare and have a high value to numismatists.

Sovereigns are treasured because of their historical and cultural value. Collectors love sovereigns and they can have tremendous numismatic value because of their history and rarity.. But old British sovereigns are probably inappropriate for those looking simply to use gold as an investment vehicle. That kind of investor is better off buying only bullion coins rather than numismatic coins, because they don't care that much about aesthetics.

However, even if you are buying as an investor, one possible downside of these British gold coins is their uneven gold content that measures 7.322 grams, and is not written on the coin. This makes British sovereigns less liquid than a standard weighted one ounce gold coin, at least outside of the UK. Bullion dealers will of course know what they are and be interested in buying them. But if there is ever an economic meltdown and you need immediate liquidity for daily transactions, sovereigns may not be widely recognized. They are certainly still a great investment vehicle, but I would not rely on them to be liquid in times of great upheaval. Have some other standard weighted coins as well.

Learn more about these treasured British gold coins at Gold Market Price.

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