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The Sovereign: A Brief History
The pound
sterling, as a denomination of account, originated in Anglo-Saxon Britain
during the 8th century (775/780AD) when the basic monetary unit, called a
'sterling', was made equivalent to 1/240th of a pound of silver (a penny).
240 sterling's became known as a 'pound of sterling'. It was to be 700 years
before a pound coin was first issued. The first pound coins were hammered
in 1489AD during the reign of Henry Tudor (King Henry VII) to help England
recover from the ravages of Civil War. They were magnificent 23¾ carat (99%)
gold coins carrying an obverse design of the King enthroned in majesty,
giving the coins their name - 'sovereigns'. The reverse design was a shield
on a Tudor rose. Their value was the equivalent of 240 silver pennies or 20
shillings (the shilling as a coin denomination did not appear for another 59
years until 1548).
By 1526, a drain of gold to continental Europe led King Henry VIII to
increase the sovereign's value by 10% - to the equivalent of 22 shillings. A
few months later it's value was increased again to 22s 6d, a value at which
it remained until 1544 when a process of 'debasement' saw the sovereign's
fineness reduced initially to 23 carats, then to 22 carats a year later and
not long afterwards to 20 carats. During this period, the value of the
sovereign was reduced to 20 shillings once more. In 1549, King Edward VI
raised the gold fineness to 22 carat (91.6%).
Fine Sovereigns and Pounds
By Queen
Mary's reign (1553-4), gold coins were once more struck to the 23¾ carat
standard. The newly issued 'Fine Sovereigns' struck to this standard, were
valued at 30 shillings. In 1592, under the reign of Elizabeth I, a 22 carat
(91.6%) gold 'Pound' coin with a value of 20 shillings was introduced
alongside the 30 shilling 'Fine Sovereign'. By 1603-4 in the reign of James
I, this confusing state of affairs had been rationalised (in the short-term)
by the issue of a smaller and lighter 22 carat gold sovereign coin valued,
once more, at 20 shillings. This was to be the last sovereign issued for
over two centuries!
The Unite, the Laurel and the Broad
In 1604,
the weight of the gold sovereign/pound was again reduced and the new coin
became known as the 'Unite'. In 1612, the 'unite' was revalued to 22
shillings. A yet again smaller 20 shilling gold coin - the 'Laurel' was
introduced in 1619 but survived only until 1625 when the 'unite' was
devalued to it's original value of 20 shillings. The 'unite' survived the
civil war and execution of Charles I in 1649 and continued to be minted
during Oliver Cromwell's 'Commonwealth'. Another, smaller 20 shilling gold
coin known as the 'broad' was issued in 1656. After the 'Restoration' of
Charles II to the crown in 1660, unites were hammered for another two years.
Gold from Guinea
In 1662,
two major initiatives were introduced. Firstly, hand hammering of coins was
abandoned in favour of manufacture by the Roettiers improved mill and screw
presses. Secondly, new 20 shilling coins were minted with gold imported by
the Africa Company from Guinea - hence the name of the new coin - the
'guinea'. 50 shilling (5 guinea) and 10 shilling (Half Guinea) coins were
also introduced. All coins were minted at the 22 carat (91.6%) gold
standard. The guinea was re-valued to 21s 6d at the commencement of the
reign of William and Mary (1688-1694) and by the end of their reign had
reached 30 shillings. The fluctuating value finally settled again at 21s 6d
by 1698 and remained at this value for the balance of William III's reign
(1694-1702) and throughout Anne's reign (1702-14), the latter period
significant for the Act of Union of 1707 which effected the unification of
the ancient kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single realm and
resulted in changes to the royal arms appearing on all coins.
During the first of the Hanoverian kings, George I's, reign (1714-27) more
changes occurred to the royal arms. The guinea was re-valued for the final
time to 21 shillings in 1717 and remained at this value for 96 years. A
short-lived issue of quarter-guinea coins was made in 1718 and in 1733, all
hammered gold coins were officially withdrawn and demonetised. The last of
the guineas, the famous 'spade guinea' featuring a spade shaped shield on
the reverse, was issued between 1787 and 1796. In the first years of the
19th century, gold coin issues were restricted to half and third guinea
coins. After a gap of 17 years the spade guinea was issued for the final
time in 1813.
Modern Sovereigns
The year
1816 was a landmark for British coinage. The mint was moved from the Tower
of London to a new site on Tower Hill and steam powered minting machinery
built by Boulton and Watt replaced the old hand operated presses.
Significantly, new coinage was produced with an intrinsic value
substantially below the face value of each coin - the first official token
coinage in the world. In 1817, after an absence of 213 years, sovereigns
were minted to replace the guinea. The new coins, valued at 20 shillings
(the same as the original rate of over three centuries earlier), were
accompanied by half sovereign issues and pattern five & two pound pieces.
All were minted to the 22 carat (91.6%) fineness standard previously used
for the guinea.
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