Sovereign Elizabeth II
This coin is the British gold Sovereign bearing the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. The modern Sovereign has been struck by the Royal Mint since 1817; its reverse, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, shows Saint George slaying the dragon, a design that has remained almost unchanged for more than two centuries. Sovereigns bearing Elizabeth II were struck from 1957 to 2022, with several successive portraits of the Queen over the course of her reign. Long used as currency throughout the British Empire, the Sovereign is today one of the most widely recognised investment coins in the world.
The coin weighs 7.99 g in total. Its fineness is 916.7‰ (22 karat), the rest being copper, which gives it its slightly reddish tint and better resistance to wear. Of these 7.99 g, 7.32 g are pure gold.
The price of a gold coin follows the amount of pure gold it contains, not its total weight: it is these 7.32 g of fine gold that determine the price of the Sovereign.
