1872 Gold Sovereign Victoria Young Head St George London

This 1872 Victoria sovereign has been minted in London and is struck in 22 carat gold. This British coin features the Young Head portrait by William Wyon on the obverse and Benedetto Pistrucci's classic St George & Dragon engraving on the reverse. As far as we know, only the long tail horse was produced at the London Mint or any of the other mints in 1872.  

Victoria Young Head sovereigns were issued with two different reverse designs from 1871-1887; the shield and St George and the Dragon. This 1872 London mint sovereign has a reverse engraving of St George & Dragon. In 1872, the sovereign gold coin was also produced by the Sydney and Melbourne branch mints in Australia.

During this period there were three small variations on the St George and Dragon reverse; a Long Tail, a Medium Tail and a Short Tail. The 1872 sovereign features the Long Tail design feature.

Sovereigns were issued for circulation with a nominal value of one pound.

Notes: * These mintage figures combine the two reverse types, St George and the Shield, as we are unable to find mintage figures for the St. George reverse alone.

The obverse bears the first portrait of Queen Victoria; the Young Head by William Wyon. The engraver's initials W.W. are set in the truncated neck and the inscription VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR : REG : F:D: is set around the coin.

The reverse engraving of St George & Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci features the horse with the Long Tail. The date and small initials B.P. are located in exergue. This design, with minor variations, has been seen on sovereigns since it was first introduced on the modern sovereign in 1817. The garter was removed in 1820.