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British Gold Sovereign Coins

By Paul Dixon

In today's world there are many important coins that collectors love to get their hands on. One of the most popular types of coins is the British gold sovereign. These are coins that came into existence about 500 years ago and continue to be produced today. It's the British Gold Sovereign Coins' beauty and their interesting history that fascinates people.

British gold sovereign coins were first minted in 1489 to honor King Henry VII. When these us gold coins were first produced they were 96% gold, which means they were 23 carats. However, Henry the VIII reduced the gold content to 92% or 22 carats. That's what's considered the gold standard (crown gold) today in both the United States and in England.

The actual weight of the British gold sovereign continued to be lowered more and more until it was locked in at just under a quarter of a Troy ounce (0.2354) in 1816. This remains to be the weight of a British gold sovereign coin today.

The British gold sovereign coin continues to be made today but it was discontinued for many years at a couple points in history. From 1604 to 1817 other coins were made in place of the British gold sovereign coins. The coins that were produced instead included guineas, Laurels, and Unites. Also, British gold sovereigns weren't produced between the years of 1933-1956.

Though British gold sovereign coins have been minted over a billion times through out the last few centuries that number is actually misleading. This is because during Victorian Times the Bank of England would remove half sovereigns and worn sovereigns from circulation. They would then take these coins and make them into new coins. This means that there are far less British gold sovereigns in existence.

Also, these coins were often used by Britain to pay debts to other countries. Then when the other country received the sovereigns they would melt the coin down for the gold. So this also produced a result of far fewer coins existing.

What this means is that there are not very many British gold sovereigns for collectors. In fact, it's estimated that only about 1% of coins that were produced are still in mint condition. The scarcity of the coins, along with their rich history, makes sovereign coins very valuable to many collectors.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the sovereigns' history is the use of the coins as 'emergency money'. During World War II fighter pilots - both British and American - carried British gold sovereign coins in case they were downed during battle. This piece of military history makes these sovereigns particularly valuable to some collectors.

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Snippets Of Numismatists News

In November 2005, Rick Munarriz of Motley Fool.com posed the question of which represented a better investment: a share of Google or an ounce of gold. The specific comparison between these two very different investments seems to have captured the imagination of many in the investment commuity and is serving to crystalize the broader debate. At the time of writing, a share of Google's stock and an ounce of gold were both near $700. On January 4, 2008 23:58 New York Time, it was reported that an ounce of gold outpaced the share price of Google by 30.77%, with gold closing at $859.19 per ounce and a share of Google closing at $657 on U.S. market exchanges. On January 24th 2008, the gold price broke the $900 mark per ounce for the first time. The price of gold topped $1,000 an ounce for the first time ever on March 13, 2008 amid recession fears in the United States.
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You hear the same advice time and time again: Diversify your portfolio. Today I'm going to make the case for something new in the world of diversification, taking the concept to the next level. I propose that you should not only diversify you overall portfolio of assets, but look at your gold bullion coin portfolio as its own world. Within this world of gold bullion coins, I suggest diversifying like crazy! Make sure you have all the popular sizes (tenth ounce, quarter ounce, half ounce, one ounce) and also popular styles (American Eagle, American Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand, with a few more thrown in too).
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When investing you want to weigh very heavily towards the coins that are most readily accepted at coin dealerships and markets around the word. Following are some of the most popular styles: American Eagle, American Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand, Chinese Gold Panda, and Vienna Philharmonic. Some of the above listed coins are 22 karat gold (Eagles and Krugerrands) and others are 24 karat gold (Buffalos, Maple Leafs, Pandas, and Philharmonics). The great thing about buying a good variety of coins is you will diversify between 22 karat and 24 karat as well. Before buying, make sure you do your research and don't let the coin dealer talk you into something you're not interested in owning.
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Some of the series that are famous for having above-average frosty luster include the Fat Head quarter eagles and half eagles from the 1820's and 1830's, Classic Head gold, No Motto Philadelphia issues and Three Dollar gold
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