Platinum Sovereigns To Be Struck By The Royal Mint

A new Proclamation, dated 3 June and available in PDF format on the Privy Council website, confirms the upcoming release of a range of platinum Sovereigns - a first for the longstanding Sovereign series.

The Proclamation indicates that a Double Sovereign, Sovereign, Half Sovereign and Quarter Sovereign will be struck in solid 999.5 fine platinum with the classic Saint George and the dragon design on the reverse.

2027 marks 470 years since the first reference to platinum in European records, so the introduction of a platinum Sovereign in 2027 could represent a meaningful update to The Royal Mint's premier coin collection.

What Are Royal Proclamations?

The Coinage Act 1971 gives the Crown, advised by the Privy Council, the power to authorise the release of new UK coins. This means that before a new commemorative coin is released, a Royal Proclamation must be published that details its design, dimensions, and denomination.

These Royal Proclamations - published on the Privy Council website and in the London Gazette - give collectors an advanced insight into upcoming coin releases, before they are issued by the Mint.

This Proclamation definitely relates to the Sovereign range, but these documents do not provide a release date or information about mintages. However, with annual Sovereign ranges a stable part of The Royal Mint's release schedule for decades, we can reasonably assume that this Proclamation relates to the 2027 Sovereign range, which will likely be released in late 2026.

Making Coins From Platinum

While The Royal Mint has issued a good number of platinum coins in the past, they are nowhere near as common as gold or silver coins.

This is partly down to platinum's rarity and partly because platinum coins are very difficult to make. Platinum has a very high melting point and is exceptionally hard, requiring specialised melting equipment and enormous pressure to strike pristine, highly detailed collectors' coins, which in turn drastically shortens the lifespan of the dies used.

Platinum has a recorded history stretching back to 1557, when the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger described an unknown metal found in Central America that could not be melted, though it was used by pre-Columbian peoples long before European contact.

Today, platinum is prized for its remarkable properties across a wide range of industries, from catalytic converters in vehicles and cancer-fighting chemotherapy drugs to jewellery, fuel cells, and hard drives. These applications can make the price of platinum very volatile, making maintaining a supply of raw material to make coinage very challenging.

Platinum Sovereign Designs

The Royal Proclamation is clear that the obverse of platinum Sovereigns will feature the definitive coinage portrait of King Charles III, along with the standard inscription that reads '· CHARLES III · DEI · GRA · REX · FID · DEF'.

The Proclamation also confirms that the reverse will show:

‘... a depiction of St George armed, sitting on horseback, attacking a dragon with a sword, and a broken spear upon the ground, and the date of the year.’

This describes Benedetto Pistrucci's classic Saint George and the dragon design, used perennially on Sovereigns since the denomination was reintroduced in 1817.

If the Saint George design is being used for platinum Sovereigns, it seems likely that standard 2027 gold Sovereigns will also use this reverse, rather than a variant design like those seen on 2022 Jubilee Sovereigns and 2022 Memorial Sovereigns.

What 2027 Platinum Sovereigns Will Be Available?

The Royal Proclamation specifically refers to a Two Pound (Double Sovereign), a Sovereign, a Half Sovereign and a Quarter Sovereign and provides the weight and diameter of these coins.

Since the weights and diameters are the same as those of standard gold Sovereigns, and platinum is significantly denser than gold, it seems likely that these coins will be a little thinner than their standard counterparts.

Platinum Sovereign News

While we're excited about the prospect of a platinum Sovereign, there is still a lot we don't know.

We do not yet know whether the platinum Sovereigns will be released with a proof finish or a bullion finish, or both. Nor do we know whether these coins will be issued individually or in a set. Mintage figures are not covered in Royal Proclamations, and we will not have any confirmed figures to publish until the coins are released.

As we find out more, we will update this page.