1993 Gold Proof Double Sovereign

1993 Gold Proof Double Sovereign. This 22 carat gold coin was struck by The Royal Mint. The coin has a face value of two pounds and has a limited edition presentation of just 414 coins. 

Double sovereigns are twice the weight of a traditional sovereign. They weigh 15.98g and contain 0.4708 troy ounces of gold. 

These coins are VAT-free and CGT exempt. 

Two Pounds History

The first double sovereign (£2 coin), was issued in 1820 for George III, and is considered by some to be be a pattern coin. Under George IV, another gold two pound issue was made in 1823, and this included proof and circulation issues. In 1824, 1825, and 1826, more were issued, but only as proofs, The Coronation of William IV in 1831 saw another gold two pound proof being issued, but only as part of a 14 coin proof set. No gold two pounds were issued in the early part of Queen Victoria's reign, but for her Golden Jubilee in 1887, proof and circulation versions were issued, and this was repeated in 1893 with the introduction of her "Old Head coinage. The Coronation of Edward VII in 1902 saw the last time, and only the fourth time, that a gold two pound coin was issued for circulation; proofs were also issued in complete 13 coin sets. In 1911 and 1937, for the Coronations of George V and George VI, proof gold two pounds were also issued as part of sets.

In 1953, for the Coronation of Elizabeth II, a very small number of gold proof sets, including two pounds, are known to have been produced, but these were never made generally available, and we believe none have ever appeared on the open market. If we ignore this last coin, there are a total of 11 different dates of gold two pounds issued between 1820 and 1979, of which 4 dates were produced in circulation versions and quantities. From 1980, the Royal Mint began actively producing and marketing coins for collectors, and this has included gold two pounds.

The third (decimal) portrait of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, designed by Raphael Maklouf. The initials 'RDM' can be found in the truncation. To ensure there was no confusion between "Royal Mint" and "Raphael Maklouf", the artist included his middle name, David, in the initials.

The world famous portrayal of St. George, on horseback, killing a dragon. There is no legend (inscription). The date 1993 appears in the exergue, and the initials B.P. also appear at the right of the exergue. These are the initials of Benedetto Pistrucci, who originally engraved the design for medals, and the first modern sovereigns of 1817.