1919 Gold Sovereign George V Australia Sydney Mint NGC Graded

These 1919 Gold Sovereign George V NGC Graded Coins were struck at the Royal Mint's branch mint, in Sydney, Australia. The coins have been slabbed and graded by numismatists at Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC).

This is a difficult coin to find with S mintmark considering mintage was 1,835,000 and given a normal rarity rating by Marsh. 

• Struck at the Sydney Mint
• NGC Graded
• 22 carat gold / 0.9167 fineness
• Contains 0.2354 troy ounce of the precious metal
• Exempt from Capital Gains Tax & VAT
• Displays the portrait of George V on the obverse, with St George and the Dragon on the reverse.
• Weight: 7.98g
• Diameter: 22.05mm

History of the Gold Sovereign 

During the reign of King Henry VII, the gold sovereign emerged, weighing 15.55 grams, and containing 23 carats of gold. Its face value was 1 pound sterling, and it was minted until 1604.

When James I ascended to the English throne, he introduced a new sovereign coin to mark his accession. However, the following year, after proclaiming himself King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, he rebranded the sovereign as distinct twenty-shilling piece called the Unite.

The production of the sovereign coin, which had been halted for over 2 centuries, was revived in 1817 during the reign of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland. The modern sovereign maintains the same face value, but with a different weight of 7.9881 grams and a gold content of 22 carats.

Treaty of Versailles 1919

The coin was minted in 1919, coinciding with Germany's signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty's provisions, Germany was compelled to pay a staggering £6.6 billion in reparations for the damages caused during World War I. Additionally, Germany was forced to reduce its army to a mere 100,000 soldiers, limit its battleship capacity, surrender land, and cease the production of armoured cars, tanks, submarines, airplanes, and poison gas. The League of Nations held Germany responsible for initiating the war and held them accountable for the extensive destruction that occurred between 1914 and 1918.

The obverse of the 1919 sovereign bears the portrait of King George V. This left facing bare head bust, with the letters B.M. in truncation, was created by Australian designer, Bertram Mackennal.

Benedetto Pistrucci's traditional St George and the Dragon design, which was first introduced in 1817, features on the reverse of the 1919 sovereign. His B.P. initials are set to the right of the date in exergue. The S mint mark denotes that the coin was struck in Sydney, Australia, this is located in the ground below the dragon.