A gold sovereign is a British gold coin, first issued in 1489 for Henry VII, generally with a value of one pound. The name "sovereign" related to the majestic and impressive size and portraiture of the coin, the earliest of which showed the king facing, seated on a throne, while the reverse shows the Royal coat of arms on a shield surrounded by a Tudor double rose. These original sovereigns were 23 carat (96%) gold and weighed 240 grains or one-half of a troy ounce (15.6 g). Henry VIII reduced the purity to 22 carats (92%), which eventually became the standard; the weight of the sovereign was repeatedly lowered until when it was revived after the Great Recoinage law of 1816, the gold content was fixed at the present 113 grains (7.32 g).
Sovereigns were discontinued after 1604, being replaced by Unites, and later by Laurels, and then guineas. Production of sovereigns restarted in 1817, their reverse design being a portrayal of Saint George killing a dragon, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci. This same design is still in use on British gold sovereigns, although different reverse designs have been used during the reigns of William IV, Victoria, George IV, and Elizabeth II.
In Victorian times it was the practice of the Bank of England to remove worn sovereigns and half sovereigns from circulation and have them recoined. Consequently, although a billion sovereigns have been minted in total, that figure includes gold that has been coined and recoined a number of times. It is estimated that in circulation, a sovereign could have a lifespan of up to 14 years before it fell below the "least current weight", that is, the mimimum amount of gold below which it ceased to be legal tender. Many sovereigns languishing in bank vaults for most of their lives. It is estimated that only 1% of all gold sovereigns that have ever been minted are still in collectable condition.
Sovereigns were produced in large quantities until World War I, at which time the UK came off the gold standard. From then until 1932, sovereigns were produced only at branch mints at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bombay, and Pretoria (except for some in 1925 produced in London as part of Winston Churchill's ill-fated attempt to return the UK to the gold standard). The last regular issue was in 1932 (at Pretoria).
