You Won't Believe This Isn't A Fake Sovereign!

Where Did The Idea Come From?

We first thought of this informative topic after coming across a thread on The Silver Forum. A user on the website posted a thread asking if his 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereign was a forgery. His suspicions were raised after he compared a 1917 Perth Mint Sovereign to the 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereign and noticed a raised dot next to the date on the latter.

How Are Raised Dots On Sovereigns Caused?

A raised dot is often a giveaway for forgeries on Sovereigns. In most scenarios, a raised dot indicates a dent or an indent on the die, producing the opposite of a raised effect on the Sovereign coin. Raised dots on Sovereigns can also be caused by die cracks or die chips. These imperfections in the die can create raised lumps or dots on the coins produced. Die cracks make raised lines, while die chips make lumps.

Dies are metallic tools used towards the end of a Sovereign's production to imprint designs onto blank metal discs. According to our CEO, Lawrence Chard, dies typically last between 10,000 to 50,000 impressions before they need to be switched out for another one.

Mints, including The Royal Mint, are quite careful with Sovereign coin dies as they are expensive to produce and are used to imprint thousands of designs. Back in 1918, if you were a branch like Melbourne, running out of dies would halt production for months while waiting for new dies from The Royal Mint in London. Needless to say, it would be a very rare occurrence for a branch like Melbourne to drop something on a die.

Analysing 1918 Melbourne Sovereigns

So, we decided to look at our own stock of 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereigns to see if we had any Sovereigns with a raised dot that matched the user's screenshot on the Silver Forum thread. To our surprise, we found two with the dot, which left us wondering why this common marking isn't listed as a variety (mint error) in reputable coin catalogues such as The Gold Sovereign book series by Marsh.

Figure 1 Genuine 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereign

In 1918, at the tail end of the First World War, the most common mintmark on Sovereigns was Melbourne. A total of 4.8 million Sovereigns were produced at the Melbourne Mint out of the 13.7 million Sovereigns struck that year.

Comparing Genuine & Fake 1918 Sovereigns

When comparing genuine 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereigns with fake ones, we found several examples of potential forgeries. One example is that someone forging may have spotted the dot on the genuine Sovereign and copied it in hopes of passing the Sovereign off to knowledgeable collectors.

Figure 2 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereigns Genuine (Left) Fake (Right) 

Another example we found is a fake 1918 Sovereign, which looked good until you flipped it from the reverse to the obverse and spotted additional lettering 'R21' next to George V's head portrait. We're unsure what 'R21' means, but a visible red acid mark suggests a pawnbroker or another party may have tested and owned this coin.

Figure 3 Fake 'R21' 1918 Melbourne Mint Sovereign

At Chards Coin and Bullion Dealer, we test coins with our Niton XRF machine instead of acid, as shown in many of our YouTube videos. We offer an affordable testing service to identify the metal in your coins and determine if they are suspect (possibly fake) or genuine. Our numismatists will check your coins if you're thinking of selling them. All you have to do is leave them with us and book an appointment.

Informative Videos - Sovereign Fakes

We have informative videos for those interested in how to spot fake sovereigns and other gold coins. See our YouTube channel for more great videos!