2019 Gold Sovereign

Subject to stock availability is this 2019 bullion gold Sovereign from The Royal Mint. The Sovereign is one of the most popular and easiest ways to invest in gold bullion.

Investment in gold coins can take two main paths. Coin collectors (known as numismatists) like coins that are in as close to perfect condition as possible, and they tend to love coins that are rare. Coin collectors don't necessarily want to sell their collections, but if they do its fair to say the longer they keep the coins the better the return. Sometimes spectacularly so.

The second group are not really coin collectors; they are investors in gold. All they need to know is the weight of the gold and what it's going to cost them. Gold has got the reputation of being a 'safe haven' investment and it has proved that time and time again. Governments and Banks keep gold. And in recent times, gold has been a lucrative investment for many.

Gold Bullion Sovereigns have low markup over the gold spot price making them a strong contender for gold investment.

Buy a 2019 Gold Sovereign

• The 2019 Sovereign is struck in 22 carat gold, weighs 7.98g and contains 7.32g of fine gold.
• The gold Sovereign is one of the world's oldest coins still in production and is considered a pinnacle of minting excellence.

Remember what happened in 2019?

Prime Minister was Theresa May but she resigned after failing to close Brexit. Boris Johnson becomes became leader but had to call a General Election to get a majority. Donald Trump was President of the United States. For all the troubles, the 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin turned out to be a great investment and gold finished the year hitting seven-year highs.

2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin

The Obverse (front, heads) has Queen Elizabeth II's 5th portrait by Jody Clark. Her Majesty used the Royal Diamond crown which she wore for her coronation and this design has been used on gold sovereigns since 2015. Jody Clark was the first Royal Mint employee for over 100 years to design a coinage portrait of a Monarch. Clark was also the youngest (at 33) to do so.

The Reverse (back, tails) of the 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin coins is that of the classical portrayal of St George slaying the Dragon, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci. St George, the Patron Saint of England is on horseback, sword in hand. On the floor to the left is a broken spear from a previous offensive.

Pistrucci's depiction dates back to 1817. He designed and engraved the artwork himself and was paid 100 guineas for his services, equivalent to about £8,000 today and that sounds like the Royal Mint got a bit of a bargain there!

The coin includes the inscription, 'DEI GRA REGINA FID DEF', which translates to 'By the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith'. The inscription refers to HM Queen Elizabeth II's position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a role she has held since her accession to the throne in 1952. 

The 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin may be supplied in an acrylic capsule.

200th Anniversary of the Ricardo Ingot plan

The 2019 Sovereign coincides with the 200 year anniversary of the Ricardo Ingot plan. The 1819 Ricardo Ingot plan aimed to replace circulating gold coinage with a 60 oz Ingot held at the Bank of England, fixing the market price of gold and threatening the revival of the Sovereign coin. 

David Ricardo was the first Political Economist to join Westminster and became involved in British Politics. Many of his ideas are still critical to todays economic thinking. Inspired by Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations', a book which laid the foundations of economic theory, trader-cum-economist David Ricardo went on to write his own pamphlet. His 'The High Price of Bullion', published in 1810 argued there was a relationship between the increase in banknotes and the rise in prices. Ricardo proposed restoring Bank of England notes to their origin gold form, a requirement removed by the 1797 Bank of England Act. Ricardo preferred banknotes to coins as they were cheaper to produce and transport. By setting a mint price for converting banknotes to gold, Ricardo argued the price of gold can be stabilised by the Bank of England. 

David Ricardo's concept came to be known as the 'Ingot Plan' and involved large-scale amounts of Bullion stored as Ingots replacing a circulating coinage of gold. Technicalities resulted in the Ingots being created in a more conventional format. All that remains of the idea to produce double-sided stamped Ingots are two tools retained at The Royal Mint Museum Collection. However, the 'Ingot plan' was critical in the UK's move towards an operational gold standard and control of inflation. 

St George and the Dragon

The ancient legend of 'St George and the dragon' dates back to the reign of William of Malmesbury, during the third century, where inspiration for the story was drawn from a Roman soldier who refused to give up his Christian faith. There are many fabled stories associated with St George, the majority of which honour him as a brave hero with English ideals and a symbol of Christianity. The most well-known tale sees St George as a heroic rescuer on horseback sent to rescue a young maiden or princess sacrificed to a dragon, which he slays to save her life. It is widely believed that the dragon was slain at Uffington's Dragon Hill, a Bronze-age site just 20 miles from our premises. Since 1222, St George has been celebrated on the 23rd April every year in England, the country of which the legend is the patron saint. This is despite St George being unlikely to have ever been deemed of English descent. Mythical St George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark). 

The reverse depicts patron saint of England, St George, in the classic design by Benedetto Pistrucci. The obverse design of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II is the fifth portrait design, by Jody Clark.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is the 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin such a strange weight?

A: Nowadays, 0.2354 troy ounce or 7.9881g may not make much sense, but it did once. In 1816 there was the "Great Recoinage". The main gold one-pound coin was changed from the gold Guinea (which was actually no longer valued at one pound) to the new 'Gold Sovereign'. At that time standard (22 carat) gold was fixed at £46 14s 6d per troy pound, so a little maths meant a £1 coin needed to weigh 123.2744783 grains or 7.988030269g. The weight was the same for the 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin, and will almost certainly be the same on future gold sovereigns.

Q: Why is a Sovereign 22 Carat Gold and Not Pure Gold?

A: 22 carat coins have a gold content of 91.67%, which is composed of 11/12ths gold and 1/12th copper. Adding the copper makes a gold alloy that is far more harder wearing than pure gold, so the coin will last longer in circulation. Remember, the sovereign was designed as a working coin, it used to be handled on a daily basis, it was THE one-pound coin.

Q: Is this 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin genuine?

A: Yes, and we guarantee it. With high value coins and investments such as the 2019 Gold Sovereign Bullion Coin, collectors and bullion investors often worry about counterfeits, but actually gold coins are very difficult to forge due to gold's unique properties of density and colour. Gold is extremely dense and to use another metal and gold-plate it would result in a coin that is under-weight, over-diameter or half-again as thick, something that would be spotted very easily by a expert. You can buy from us 100% worry free.