The 1871 British sovereign were minted in both London and Sydney. The London mint sovereign have the initials WW raised. This can be seen on the Young Head portrait on the obverse of the coin. Sydney sovereigns have the mintmark 'S' and London sovereigns have a die number: both are situated above the floral emblem.
The die numbers shown are for illustrative purposes only. We have an extensive stock of sovereigns, with various die numbers available; if you would like to know the die number you will receive, or are interested in specific die numbers, please contact our showroom on 01253 343 081 and we will check availability for you.
Photographs shown may not be the actual coin and may differ in terms of grade, die numbers, design flaws and other minor details.
The 1871 shield sovereigns were issued by The Royal Mint in London and the Australian branch mint in Sydney. The Melbourne mint did not start producing sovereigns until 1872. Curiously there is an 1872 overdate, with 1872 over 1871 known for the Melbourne mint.
There are three, very similar types for this year British sovereign. The first type are from The Royal Mint in London - they all have die numbers below the shield on the reverse. The designer's initial WW are raised on the truncation of the neck.
The second type were minted at The Royal Mint branch mint in Sydney.
The third type is a variation of the Sydney mint sovereign but with the initials W.W incuse, unlike the other two where the W.W., are raised. Marsh fails to differentiate between these two types, however, Spink do.
The modern sovereign was introduced in 1817. Struck in 22 carat gold, this British coin is produced to specifications which are checked each year by the Trial of the Pyx.
Mint mark | Mint | Mintage |
L | London | 8,767,250 |
S | Sydney, Australia | 2,814,000* |
Total | 11,581,250* |
Notes: * These mintage figures combine the two initial types, WW incuse and relief.
The obverse shows the Young Head portrait by William Wyon. The initials WW are in relief on the truncation of the neck.
The reverse shows the shield design by Jean Baptiste Merlen. The die number is situated above the floral emblem consisting of a rose, shamrock and thistle.
Metal | Gold |
Diameter | 22.05mm |
Weight / Size | Full |
Gold Weight Troy Ounces | 0.235 |
Fineness / Carat | 0.917 / 22 |
Mintage Figure | 8,767,250 |
Date | 1871 |
Obverse Designer | William Wyon |
Reverse Designer | Jean Baptiste Merlen |
Issuing Monarch | Victoria (1837-1901) |
Mint / Brand | The Royal Mint |
Country | United Kingdom |
Obverse Grade | Reverse Grade | Price | Availability | |
---|---|---|---|---|
aEF | aEF | £1,046.99 | Out Of Stock | |
gVF | aEF | £986.99 | In Stock | |
VF | gVF | £986.99 | Out Of Stock | |
aVF | aEF | £879.49 | In Stock | |
aVF | gVF | £831.99 | In Stock | |
aVF | VF | £794.49 | Out Of Stock | |
gFine | gVF | £794.49 | In Stock | |
gFine | VF | £756.99 | In Stock | |
gFine | aVF | £701.99 | In Stock | |
Fine | aVF | £701.99 | Out Of Stock | |
Fine | gFine | £641.89 | Out Of Stock | |
EF | EF | £1,186.99 | Out Of Stock | |
aEF | EF | £1,116.99 | Out Of Stock | |
gFine | VF | £756.99 | In Stock | |
aEF | aEF | £2,745.25 | In Stock |
Date | Obverse | Reverse | Price |
---|---|---|---|
25 June 2016 | aVF | VF | £492.98 |
16 September 2016 | Fine | gFine | £346.64 |
01 April 2017 | Fine | aVF | £380.43 |
26 June 2017 | Fine | gFine | £340.24 |
16 November 2017 | gFine | aVF | £390.16 |
28 February 2020 | gFine | aVF | £347.55 |
16 July 2021 | Fine | gFine | £440.33 |
20 March 2023 | Fine | gFine | £541.88 |
14 November 2023 | Fine | gFine | £480.73 |
15 December 2023 | aEF | EF | £962.63 |
General
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Bullion coins are provided as is and on occasion may have some minor scratches or edge knocks. These are not regarded as faulty or damaged goods as their precious metal content and value as a bullion coin is not affected. Any coin sold for a value less than a 180% intrinsic is considered a bullion coin.
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All investment products are based on the live precious metal price. Prices will be fixed once the item has been added to the basket and recalculates just before checking out.
If your product is not a graded coin and is considered a bullion item, it should be noted that these are bought and sold on low premiums over their precious metal content and not solely for aesthetic purposes; therefore, some products may have edge knocks and/or marks. These edge knocks and marks do not alter the specifications of the coins.
Please note that all investment products are exempt from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and therefore customers do not have the right to cancel their order once the order has been accepted. If customers no longer wish to go ahead with their investment purchase, there is an option to sell the products back to Chard (1964) Ltd instead. View our current buy back prices.
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