British Sovereign Gold Coin

5, 1, and 1/2 Pound Gold Sovereign

The British Sovereign gold coins is arguably the gold coin minted for the longest time. It features on the obverse the current British monarch at the time it was was minted. On the reverse it shows “Saint George Killing the Dragon”.

One of the the main features of the Sovereign gold coin is its alloy, called “Imperial Gold” or “Crown Gold”. This gold alloy is 11/12ths gold and 1/12th copper. This sounds simple to accomplish, but it is not. Gold does not want to naturally alloy with anything unless there is silver present. Thus, most circulation gold coins, like the American Eagle for example, include silver and copper as part of the hardening process. In Crown Gold, there is no copper, but the alloy is created by super heating the melted gold and copper, and then super cool it ultra fast to lock the gold and copper molecules. The result is a reddish gold alloy tone that is very hard and durable. The same alloy is used in the Krugerrand and the gold Rand.

Sovereign gold coins come in (5) denominations.