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| === Victorian and early 20th century issues=== | === Victorian and early 20th century issues=== | ||
| After 1831, the double sovereign was not struck again until 1887. For reasons unknown, it was not struck as part of the proof sets of 1839 or 1853.{{sfn|Lobel|pp=439–440}} ] of the Royal Mint notes the gap of over a half century and deems it an illustration of how small a part the two-pound and five-pound pieces played in the everyday life of the ].{{sfn|Clancy|p=75}} | After 1831, the double sovereign was not struck again until 1887. For reasons unknown, it was not struck as part of the proof sets of 1839 or 1853.{{sfn|Lobel|pp=439–440}} ] of the Royal Mint notes the gap of over a half century and deems it an illustration of how small a part the two-pound and five-pound pieces played in the everyday life of the ].{{sfn|Clancy|p=75}} | ||
| In 1887, the double sovereign was struck as part of the ], with an obverse by ] and Pistrucci's George and Dragon reverse. This coin was available both in uncirculated condition and as a proof coin. Richard Lobel, in his ''Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK coins, deems the 1887 issue the "best known and most popular example of this denomination",{{sfn|Lobel|p=440}} something borne out by its mintage of 91,345 in uncirculated and 797 in proof, the highest of any double sovereign.{{sfn|Lobel|p=671}}{{sfn|Spink 2022b|pp=165–187}} | |||
| On 26 September 1887, two sets of dies, mint marked "S", were sent from the London premises of the Royal Mint to the ]. It is thought that the Sydney Mint only struck coins to order, and few double sovereigns were called for. After that mint closed at the end of 1926, its equipment, including the 1887 dies, were sent to the ], where additional specimens were struck from the original dies. The total mintage of the 1887-S double sovereign is believed to be 28.{{sfn|Bull|p=334}} | On 26 September 1887, two sets of dies, mint marked "S", were sent from the London premises of the Royal Mint to the ]. It is thought that the Sydney Mint only struck coins to order, and few double sovereigns were called for. After that mint closed at the end of 1926, its equipment, including the 1887 dies, were sent to the ], where additional specimens were struck from the original dies. The total mintage of the 1887-S double sovereign is believed to be 28.{{sfn|Bull|p=334}} | ||
Revision as of 21:43, 11 August 2023
British gold coin For the British coin valued at two pounds issued for circulation since 1986, sometimes with gold or silver varieties for collectors, see Two pounds (British coin).| United Kingdom | |
| Value | £2 |
|---|---|
| Mass | 15.976 g |
| Diameter | 28.40 mm |
| Composition | .917 gold (22 carat) |
| Gold | 0.4708 troy oz |
| Obverse | |
 | |
| Design | Reigning British monarch |
| Reverse | |
 | |
| Design | Saint George and the Dragon |
| Designer | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Design date | 1817 |
The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of two pounds sterling (£2) or forty shillings.
It was first minted using the design by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1820 under the reign of George III and never entered circulation, instead being considered a pattern coin. As a precursor to the modern £2 coin it shares a similar diameter of 28.4 mm.
History
The history of double sovereigns can be traced back to 1485 when larger sovereign coins were minted using dies of the standard English sovereign, although not entering circulation they are thought to have been for presentation purposes as piedfort coins.
Following the introducing of the new British sovereign coin in 1817, a special proof double sovereign was minted in 1820 however like the previous double sovereign it never entered general circulation. In 1887 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee another double sovereign was issued, this time entering circulation for the first time.
A two pound coin was an occasional feature of the British currency from 1823 until 1996, but has been minted every year since 1997. With the exception of proof coins issued in 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1831, the design of the reverse always featured the George and Dragon of Benedetto Pistrucci, with the year in the exergue under the design.
Origins and early striking
After the Napoleonic Wars, Parliament, by the Coinage Act 1816, placed Britain officially on the gold standard, with the pound to be defined as a given quantity of gold. Almost every speaker supported having a coin valued at twenty shillings, rather than continuing to use the guinea. One reason for the introduction of gold coinage based on the sovereign was that its value, equal to one pound sterling, was more convenient than the guinea, equal to twenty-one shillings. Nevertheless, the Coinage Act did not specify which coins the Mint should strike.
A committee of the Privy Council recommended gold coins of ten shillings, twenty shillings, two pounds and five pounds be issued, and this was accepted by George, Prince Regent on 3 August 1816. The twenty-shilling piece was named a sovereign, with the resurrection of the old name possibly promoted by antiquarians with numismatic interests. The sovereign and half sovereign were both first issued in 1817, but there was initially no striking of the two larger coins. Since 1754, there had been no issuance of coins more valuable than a guinea intended for general circulation; the need for higher value tender had been met by bank notes. The St George and the dragon design was suggested as an appropriate motif for the sovereign by its creator, Benedetto Pistrucci, based on a cameo he had carved. Sir Joseph Banks also recommended to William Wellesley-Pole, the Master of the Mint, that Pistrucci's design be adapted for use on the coinage.
In December 1819, possibly because of the decline in the health of King George III (r. 1760–1820), Wellesley-Pole instructed Pistrucci, who was then acting as chief engraver of the Royal Mint, two prepare dies for the double sovereign (two pounds) and the five-pound piece. Nineteenth-century numismatic writer Edward Hawkings portrayed this as a race against time to complete the dies before George died, which he related was won by the Royal Mint's craftsmen; later researchers have found the king died before the new coins were ready. The double sovereign, designed by Pistrucci, depicts the right-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIUS III D G BRITANNIAR REX F D (George III by the grace of God king of the Britains, defender of the faith) and the date, while the reverse shows Pistrucci's George and dragon design with no legend or date. This design had first appeared on the sovereign in 1817, surrounded by a Garter. The reverse design has Pistrucci's initials at the lower right, with those of Wellesley-Pole]], whilst lettering on the edge states DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI LX (An ornament and a safeguard; sixtieth year of the reign}}. A total of 60 pieces are reported to have been struck.
In 1823, Pistrucci's reverse was used again on the double sovereign, joined with an obverse bust of the new king, George IV,(r. 1820–1830) by Jean Baptiste Merlen based on a bust by Sir Francis Chantrey; Pistrucci had refused to adapt the work of another artist. The coins had the same edge inscription as the 1820 piece, except the Roman numeral was IV (fourth ) for 1823 issues.
The 1824, 1825 and 1826 proof coins feature a smaller head of the king, by William Wyon, with the legend (George IV by the grace of God ...) and the date, while the reverse (by Merlen) shows a crowned shield within a mantle cape with the legend BRITANNIARUM REX FID DEF (King of the Britains, defender of the faith). The 1825 coin has a plain edge; the 1824 issue has the edge inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI QUINTO (An ornament and a safeguard; fifth year of the reign), with the 1826 changing the final word to SEPTIMO (seventh). Of the four George IV issues, only the 1823 issue was for circulation, the others being struck in small numbers as proof coins, with the 1826 part of the proof set of that year.
In 1831 a proof coin of this denomination, was produced for the start of the reign of king William IV. The obverse, by Wyon based on a bust by Chantrey, shows a right-facing head of the king with the legend GULIELMUS IIII D G BRITANNIAR REX F D (William IV by the grace of God king of the Britians, defender of the faith), while the reverse, by Merlen, shows a crowned shield with the legend ANNO 1831 (year 1831). There is no edge inscription.
The next appearance of the denomination was not until the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The Jubilee head was used with the obverse inscription VICTORIA D G BRIT REG F D, while the reverse shows Pistrucci's design of St George slaying the dragon with the only legend being the date in the exergue. The edge of this coin is milled, and it weighs 16 grams. This coin was also (rarely) produced in the mint at Sydney, Australia, which is identified by the letter "S" above the centre of the date.
The Pistrucci reverse was used again in 1893, when the obverse used the "Old Head" of the queen, with the legend VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP, and the edge is again milled.
Victorian and early 20th century issues
After 1831, the double sovereign was not struck again until 1887. For reasons unknown, it was not struck as part of the proof sets of 1839 or 1853. Kevin Clancy of the Royal Mint notes the gap of over a half century and deems it an illustration of how small a part the two-pound and five-pound pieces played in the everyday life of the Victorian era.
In 1887, the double sovereign was struck as part of the Jubilee coinage, with an obverse by Joseph Boehm and Pistrucci's George and Dragon reverse. This coin was available both in uncirculated condition and as a proof coin. Richard Lobel, in his Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK coins, deems the 1887 issue the "best known and most popular example of this denomination", something borne out by its mintage of 91,345 in uncirculated and 797 in proof, the highest of any double sovereign.
On 26 September 1887, two sets of dies, mint marked "S", were sent from the London premises of the Royal Mint to the Sydney Mint. It is thought that the Sydney Mint only struck coins to order, and few double sovereigns were called for. After that mint closed at the end of 1926, its equipment, including the 1887 dies, were sent to the Melbourne Mint, where additional specimens were struck from the original dies. The total mintage of the 1887-S double sovereign is believed to be 28.
In the reign of King Edward VII, £2 coins were issued in 1902 and did circulate. The 1902 Edward VII coin was also minted at Sydney, being identified by an "S" above the centre of the date.
For George V and George VI, £2 coins were only issued in proof sets in the first year of each reign.
In the case of Edward VIII's short reign, it was only prepared for approval, which is why his coin is valued at around £175,000.
All these four reigns used the Pistrucci George and Dragon obverse with milled edges.
The reign of Queen Elizabeth II saw a departure from the normal practice in issuing gold coinage. A small number of gold £2 pieces were struck in 1953 in order to provide continuity of the series, but the striking was not released to the public, with the result that they are now valued at around £75,000. No further £2 gold pieces were struck until 1980. Since then they have been issued somewhat haphazardly in most years. Coins from 1980 to 1984 use the Arnold Machin effigy of the Queen, while the 1985-1996 coins use the Raphael Maklouf effigy and most later coins use the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy. Until 1993, all these years use the Pistrucci reverse except for 1986 which used a gold version of the circulating £2 coin, and 1989 when a completely new design was used to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the first issue of the sovereign coin: the obverse shows the Queen seated on the coronation throne holding the orb and sceptre, with the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF, while the reverse shows a crowned shield within a double rose and the legend ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOLD SOVEREIGN 1489-1989.
Double sovereigns continue to be struck by the Royal Mint as bullion coins, with some struck to proof quality for coin collectors, and continue to be legal tender.
In 2017 a limited number of piedforts of the standard-size sovereign were minted to mark the 200th anniversary of the British sovereign coin, with the special Garter obverse design; they had the diameter of a sovereign but the weight and gold content of a double sovereign, due to their double-thickness. Piedforts were again coined in 2018 and 2019, in decreasing mintages.
See also
- Double eagle, U.S. gold coin with face value of $20
References
- "The Story of the British Two Pound Coin". 24carat.co.uk. Chard. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- Royal Mint Piedforts
- Ruding 1819, p. 520.
- Clancy, pp. 52–55.
- Seaby, p. 147.
- Seaby, pp. 116–117.
- Marsh, p. 7.
- Clancy, p. 57.
- Spink 2004, pp. 389–390.
- ^ Bull, p. 3.
- Clancy, p. 58.
- Bull, p. 4.
- ^ Bull, p. 6.
- Lobel, p. 453.
- Lobel, p. 717.
- ^ Lobel, p. 439.
- Lobel, pp. 439–440.
- Clancy, p. 75.
- Lobel, p. 440.
- Lobel, p. 671.
- Spink 2022b, pp. 165–187. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpink_2022b (help)
- Bull, p. 334.
Bibliography
- Bull, Maurice (2023). English Gold Coinage. Vol. II. London, England: Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 978-1-912667-72-7.
- Clancy, Kevin (2017) . A History of the Sovereign: Chief Coin of the World (second ed.). Llantrisant, Wales: Royal Mint Museum. ISBN 978-1-869917-00-5.
- Lobel, Richard, ed. (1999) . Coincraft's Standard Catalogue English & UK Coins 1066 to Date (5th ed.). London: Standard Catalogue Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9526228-8-8.
- Marsh, Michael A. (2017) . The Gold Sovereign (revised ed.). Exeter, Devon: Token Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-908828-36-1.
- Ruding, Rogers (1819). Annals of the Coinage of Britain and Its Dependencies. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor and Jones. ISBN 978-1164809173.
- Seaby, Peter (1985). The Story of British Coinage. London: B. A. Seaby Ltd. ISBN 978-0-900652-74-5.
- Spink & Son Ltd (2004). Coins of England and the United Kingdom (39th ed.). London: Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 978-1-902040-56-1.