Have been trying to assemble a set of gold sovereigns, at least one from each reign. More for a long reign like Victoria's or QE2, since the design changed along the way. Obviously Edward VIII is out, which I don't mind, but I'm having trouble sourcing a good George VI. Apparently the UK quit minting gold for circulation during the Great Depression, and only resumed minting examples for numismatists much later on, during Elizabeth's reign. I don't mind Commonwealth mints as some of mine already are Australian. All I can find for George VI are 1952 South African releases, and they cost roughly double what earlier and later sovereigns cost. Any advice or perspectives?
Honestly, the 1952 South Africa 1 Pounds are fun little pieces and I own one in a PCGS PR66 CAM. If I recall correctly it costed me 700 USD but it was a raw coin and I got it graded later. The key to getting a good quality 1952 1 Pound is to be patient and look at auctions that are selling the whole proof set or individual raw coins. This way you will have the best chance of finding a decent one for a reasonable price. I know you got the image of that one on eBay and I do know which seller and I honestly think his prices are beyond ridiculous. Also there are 1937 Sovereigns minted in the UK but oh lord they cost somewhere like 4-6K USD in PF 63-65 grade.
I once thought about attempting a sovereign type set by monarch and in looking at various catalog prices, I realized how tough George VI would be. Aren’t his sovereigns proof-only? I never took up that challenge. I don’t see anything wrong with including a SA pound if you haven’t got the considerable funds necessary to get a George VI proof sovereign. Kind of a neat idea, actually. I must confess that I was unaware of these George VI gold SA pounds until just now, though I have seen the earlier ZAR equivalents.
Well, if you want cheap sovereigns from that time period, then most of the 1925 sovereigns were actually struck during that time. The Royal Mint struck lot of these from 1949 to 1951.
Interesting. I did not know that. But since those would bear the portrait of George V, I suspect most type set collectors would not want to use one to represent George VI, even if the coin was technically struck in that later George’s reign.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if there were modern fantasy Edward VIII “sovereigns” struck in gold. Something like that would be a respectable enough inclusion, given the bullion content alone.
Just bid and lost on a full set in circulated condition, with two execrable photos. SMH, I still don't see how people bid four and five figures on coins with only two pics. More to the point, I don't see why sellers hawking items at those prices can't be bothered to document their offerings a little bit better. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404142203606
A lot of those fantasies were struck by known entities (Coincraft, et al), with mintage records, and many are even listed in the Krause Unusual World Coins volume. Which doesn't necessarily vouch for the gold content in all of them out there, but if one went with a published fantasy type, it would be something collectible in its own right. Browsing around, the ones I'm seeing appear to be only 9-karat gold in any event.
Thanks, I guess it would tarnish a bit but it's a very interesting solution. Have to figure out how to get one now! As well as the George VI...
Wow, the caliber of the artwork on the fantasy sovereigns ranges from the competent to the cartoonish. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=EDWARD+VIII+FANTASY+SOVEREIGN.&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images
Thanks very much for your reply. I had missed it back in February. I did not know about the 1937 G6. Unfortunately it looks to be much more costly than the 1952 ZA. https://britanniacoincompany.com/buy-coins/gold-coins/1937-proof-sovereign/
The only English gold coins that were issued during George VI's reign were those in his 1937 coronation set. The Great Depression was part of it, but it was more likely due to World War II. After the war, England was pretty much broke. The empire was falling apart, and the war had buried the treasury in debt. In addition, the British people were demanding more services. They elected a elected socialist government which pushed Winston Churchill out of office. The 1937 coronation gold set is beautiful, but very pricey. The official word is that 5,500 sets were issued. The sovereign coin from that set is not cheap.
