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Currency

Old Sovereigns

Synopsis

In 1957, the Bank of England started once again to issue gold sovereigns. To distinguish between the previous issues, which would in many cases seen circulation, and the new, mint condition coins, all the earlier sovereigns were termed by dealers as "old" sovereigns, as distinct from "new" sovereigns.

2020 gold full sovereign benedetto pistrucci st george and the dragon

"Kings"

The sovereigns of Edward VII and George V were known as king sovereigns or "Kings", while those of Queen Victoria were sometimes called "Victorias", "Vics" or Vickies".

Victorias

Victoria sovereigns actually divide up into three different heads, and two different reverse types, making four major types in all. These are:-

Jargon

The above terms may not have been in common use by the majority of the population, but were the jargon used by bullion dealers including international banks, and also by collectors.

N.B

The fine gold content of a sovereign is 0.2354 troy ounces.

Author: Lawrence Chard - Chairman and CEO

Published: 16 Feb 2018

Last Updated: 24 Dec 2022

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