Hi all, I'm hoping for some guidance and direction to understand what exactly is written on the gold Sovereign coin. Every search I fire off comes back with thousands of people trying to sell me something or tell me the weight. I'd like to know how to translate what is written on the coins. I understand the dates and the mint marks, but what is really written in Latin on these coins? I know they represent royalty for various dignitaries depending on date, but I see things like FD and such - what are these? Are they different on the 1/2 Sovereign? Any direction or links would be much appreciated. Cheers!
That is the abbreviation of each King's / Queen's Tittle and styles as in, His full style as king was "His Majesty George V, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India". It is different for each one. Wiki has this info.
Somebody must read the inscriptions occasionally, the DG (for Dei Gratia, by the grace of god) was left off the 1849 florin, creating the well known 'Godless' florin. Because Latin was a common language across Europe for centuries, a bit of familiarity with standard Latin abbreviations makes reading the inscriptions and attributing origin of most older European coins a lot easier. Learning about 50 common abbreviations and the Latin forms of royal and noble names makes identifying coins as easy as reading a label, almost.
Britain Guinea "Spade" type 1794 George III had this on the reverse of his guinea, the predecessor to the sovereign: Crowned arms of Britain, Ireland, France, and Hannover M.B.F.ET.H.REX.F.D.B.ET.L.D.S.R.I.A.T.ET.E The initials meant: MAGNAE BRITANNIAE FRANCIAE ET HIBERNIAE REX FIDEI DEFENSOR King of Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith BRVNSWICENSIS ET LVNEBVRGENSIS DVX Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg SACRI ROMANI IMPERII ARCHI THESAVRARIVS ET PRINCEPS ELECTOR Holy Roman Empire, Arch-Treasurer and Prince-Elector
Thank you all, this is helpful. Is there anything that explains the devices on the coins? And forgive my ignorance, but how do I translate date and denomination?
Oh, I have several and I'm actually looking to build a collection. I'm just trying to understand which devices are common, which change, and learn about the overall history of the coins. I actually picked up a couple with Australian mint marks last week, and it got me interested in learning more about the history of the sovereign.
I don't even know what denomination a Sovereign is. And does it also have unique "names" that locals refer to them as? (like "bob" for shilling, or "quid" for Pound?) I would one day like to own a gold British coin, they are cool. I used to have a bunch of those large pennies and half pennies from the late 1800's to mid 1900's. Great pieces.
Sovereigns (one pound) still crop up today in local slang, as in "that'll be 3 sovs, guv". Meaning 3 pounds. Victorian slang terms for the sovereign were numerous, now all obsolete. Here is a useful article. http://blog.royalmint.com/coin-nicknames-the-british-fondness-for-change/ For 150 years after the guinea was withdrawn, its value of one pound one shilling was still in use in Britain in some auction rooms and as far as I know it may still be in use at bloodstock sales. (Horses). Public lavatories used to cost one penny to use a cubicle (the urinal trough was free) and the term to spend a penny is still in use today, even though public lavatories are now rare and cost way more than a penny when found.
