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Saturday 29 March 2014

135) Gold Sovereigns issued in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018 by MMTC – PAMP in India under licence from the Royal Mint U.K.:



135) Gold Sovereigns issued in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 by MMTC – PAMP in India under licence from the Royal Mint U.K.:
The Gold Guinea, the precursor to the gold Sovereign:

This coin was “romantically” named Guinea, because the gold for the coins was supplied by the “Africa Company” operating along the Gold/Guinea Coast in West Africa. Interestingly, the Egyptian Pound which was in circulation in the nineteenth century was also called “el-Geneh” or “el-Geni” in Arabic and was at par with the British Guinea.

The guineas were struck in “yellow” gold giving rise to an old adage “as yellow as a guinea”.

Tracing the fascinating life story of the Guinea:

    From the Restoration of the Monarchy in Britain to the Napoleonic Wars, the gold guinea was the preferred coin of the wealthy Britons.

    It was first minted in 1663, after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, in the aftermath of the English Civil War, when the Republican coinage was replaced by the coinage bearing the portrait of the newly restored King, Charles II.

     Since inception, the Guinea was struck during eight successive reigns, and on the reverse, always displayed the Arms of the reigning monarch.

    Issued regularly in every reign from Charles II to George III, it was a coin that witnessed the Glorious Revolution, the Union of Kingdoms and the American War of Independence.

    At inception, the worth of a Guinea was one pound sterling or 20 shillings. Rising costs of gold later led to its actual value fluctuating, until in 1717 and at its peak, the Guinea was valued at thirty shillings. Nevertheless, for the most part, that, this coin was in circulation (1717 to 1816), it was valued at 21 shillings to a Guinea or the equivalent of one pound and five pence in the decimalized currency. (Shillings were a part of the British monetary system up to the decimalization of the currency in 1971).

    The Guinea was the principal gold coin of Britain ever since it was first minted and was the first machine-struck coin in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813.

In the reign of George III, guineas were struck nearly every year from 1761 to 1799.

The King’s early guineas bore on the reverse a garnished shield of the Royal Arms, but from 1787, a crowned shield was adopted which resembled the old style long handled spades, earning the coin its famous nickname – the “Spade Guinea”, which is one of the most popular guineas.

In 2013, the spade guinea was commemorated with a two-pound coin issue by the Royal Mint, U.K. as the most popular guinea design. For more on the Guinea, please click on the following link:( 350th Anniversary of the guinea - a two pound coin issued to commemorate the occasion).

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the French Revolutionary Wars/ Napoleonic Wars had drained the gold reserves and gold became a scarce commodity. The Guinea was being used for gold hoarding. The British Parliament, left with no alternative, passed laws making Banknotes legal tender for any denomination.

In 1799, guineas stopped being minted, although half and third-guineas were still coined.

In 1813, about 80,000 guineas were restruck, to pay the Duke of Wellington’s army in the Pyrenees, because the local residents would not accept any paper currency and only wanted gold coins from the British troops. As such, the 1813 guinea issues are also referred to as the “Military Guinea.

The Great Recoinage of 1816 replaced the Guinea with another exciting gold coin we know, today, as the “Sovereign”.

The “fascination” of the Guinea still endures among discerning collectors/Jewellery/coin dealers:

    When I went to purchase my first gold sovereign from a Jewellery shop in Lucknow, in 1983, the shop owner immediately called out to his Assistant, “Bring me the box containing gold guineas” and he promptly, let me choose a “gold Sovereign” from the box.

    Alas, when we went to buy gold Sovereigns in the Pune Jewellery stores recently, no one seemed to have heard of either a gold “Guinea” or a “Sovereign”, but the Royal Mint U.K. still retails old original gold Guineas through a Special Cell, while MMTC-PAMP, have kept the legend of the Sovereign alive in India by manufacturing them in 2013 under licence from the Royal Mint U.K.

Sovereigns issued in India bearing the date 2013, under licence from the Royal Mint, U.K.:

The Sovereigns minted by MMTC-PAMP, India (a collaboration of MMTC of India and PAMP of Switzerland) come serially numbered in stylized coin cards. This coin card is serially numbered as “050081”, indicating that it has been minted in the second  lot, the first lot of 50000 coins having been pre-booked and sold within a couple of days of the coins being put into the market.  Encouraged by the response received, MMTC-PAMP has decided to continue with the programme. 

Nevertheless, with the number of outlets being limited to a few cities, there is not much awareness about this coin even in major cities like Pune, where Jayant and I spent a whole afternoon checking up with all the leading jewellers, almost all of whom had not heard of gold Sovereigns.

Not to be discouraged easily, I took up correspondence with MMTC-PAMP, particularly as their website was still in the nascent stages and did not have much information (presently it is well developed and quite helpful in identifying sales outlets for the Sovereigns). One of their senior managers promptly responded by communicating that they had several authorized outlets in Delhi/Gurgaon and had identified some more across the country. Elated by this development, I asked Jayant to get in touch with MMTC authorized outlets while in Delhi, which he promptly did, leading him to own this “historical” gold coin. 

The gold Sovereign is a gold coin with nominal value of one pound sterling, but used as a bullion coin. Gold sovereigns were also minted in the U.K., Australia, Canada and South Africa besides India, from time to time.
Some of these Sovereigns (as they are called) were also issued by Bombay mint in 1918 (because Bombay mint was declared as a Branch of London Mint and these issues bear the Bombay mint mark).
Thereafter, a Sovereign having the same specifications as the 1918 issues, has only now been minted in India by MMTC-PAMP bearing the “I” mint mark (under licence from the Royal Mint U.K.) i.e. after a gap of 95 years in 2013.

Some other mints which issued these coins at various points of time were Ottawa (mint mark 'C'), Melbourne (mint mark 'M'), Perth (mint mark 'P'), Sydney (mint mark 'S'), and Pretoria (mint mark ‘SA’) among others.
 One of the coins which is only a representative specimen of such coins issued all over the British Empire, in my coin collection is given below:




Obverse of the Sovereign issued in 1930.  The coin has the legend “GEORGIVS V D.G.REG.BRITT:OMN:REX F.D.IND.IMP" surrounding the bust.
(meaning “George V, by the Grace of God, King of all the Britons, defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"). The bare head of the King is facing left. There is a finely toothed border within twin concentric corcles and raised rim on both sides. The initials of the designer of the obverse side image are on the right hand side of the neck of the bust.




 Reverse of the above coin. The image shows St. George with a flowing cloak and helmet with a streamer, slaying the dragon with a sword, his broken lance lies on the ground to the lower left. The initials of the mint which made it "SA" are on the mound below St.George and the initials of the designer “BP” (Benedetto Pistrucci) are below the right side of the mound. This coin was issued in Pretoria mint, South Africa during the lots minted from 1929-1932.

Pistrucci’s design of St. George is strongly reminiscent of the marble relief sculptures which were part of the ornamental frieze which decorated the Parthenon in Athens, which showed some 400 human figures and 200 animals taking part in a lively procession. The horsemen in this frieze provide a realistic impression of movement, their face and body expressions conveying skill and confidence as they keep their horses under firm control. Pistrucci’s design of St. George shows a naked Roman horseman mounted on a Parthenon-style horse, with the horse adopting an aggressive attitude towards the wounded dragon, yet effortlessly kept in check by St. George.

(For more on the silver & gold coins issued during the reign of George V in India, please click on the following link: Gold & silver coins issued in India during the reign of George V).


Reverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in a stylized coin card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India. The coin card shows an image of St. George slaying the dragon. The “I” mint mark is engraved in the centre of the mound representing that this coin has been made in India. The initials of the reverse coin designer “BP” (Benedetto Pistrucci) appear below the right hand side of the mound. On the coin card is mentioned “The 2013 Sovereign”.


Obverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in the coin card. It shows an image of the Queen facing right. The peripheral inscription is “ELIZABETH.II. DEI.GRA. REGINA.FID.DEF.” (MEANING “Elizabeth II By the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith). Below the Queen’s neck on her portrait are the initials “IRB” (standing for Ian Rank-Broadley, the designer of this Queen’s portrait).
Notice that the term “IND.IMP. (Emperor of India) which appears in the Gold Sovereign in my collection which was issued during the reign of George V, carries this title on the Sovereign. The term “IND IMP” was last carried on coins issued in 1948. Although India gained Independence from the British Raj in 1947, nevertheless, as it took some time for the existing coin dies to be replaced all over the British Empire, this “anomaly” took place.

The inscription carried on the coin card on this face carries a Certificate of Authenticity which reads: “The Sovereign is the flagship coin of the Royal Mint, recognized globally as a commemorative coin of the utmost craftsmanship and accuracy. Its weight is faithfully specified to five decimal places, its gold purity assured by the same strictly independent quality control process for over 750 years. As a result, the Sovereign is rightly regarded as one of the world’s greatest commemorative coins, a lasting symbol of beauty and integrity.

This authentic Royal Mint Sovereign is manufactured under licence by MMTC-PAMP INDIA PVT. LTD. at Rojka-Meo Industrial Estate, District Mewat, Haryana, India”, signed by The Deputy Master, Chief Executive of the Royal Mint Limited. U.K. in the year 2013.

The specifications of this coin are similar to those of the Gold Sovereigns issued earlier/presently by the Royal Mint U.K.:

Quality: Bullion coin;

Denomination: Sovereign; Gold Fineness: 0.9167 Au;

Weight: 7.98805 gms; Diameter: 22.05 mm.

Thumb Rule: The Sovereign should have a standard fineness of 916.666. The alloy used in modern Sovereigns has traditionally been copper and Sovereigns struck in India in 1918 as well as in 2013 conform to this traditional composition.

Posted on 04.08.14:

I have yesterday acquired a gold Sovereign minted by MMTC-PAMP in India during the year 2014. The specifications of this coin are the same as the earlier 2013 coin.


Reverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in a stylized coin card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India. The coin card shows an image of St. George slaying the dragon. The “I” mint mark is engraved in the centre of the mound representing that this coin has been made in India. The initials of the reverse coin designer “BP” (Benedetto Pistrucci) appear below the right hand side of the mound. On the coin card is mentioned “The 2014 Sovereign”.



Obverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in the coin card. It shows an image of the Queen facing right. The peripheral inscription is “ELIZABETH.II. DEI.GRA. REGINA.FID.DEF.” (MEANING “Elizabeth II By the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith). Below the Queen’s neck on her portrait are the initials “IRB” (standing for Ian Rank-Broadley, the designer of this Queen’s portrait).

     The attractive Box in which the Gold sovereigns are contained.
A controversy has arisen on the description of these coins in the accompanying booklet where it is mentioned that the Reverse designer is "Paul Day", whereas, the authentication Certificate by the royal Mint UK mentions the designer as the original designer "Benedetto Pistrucci".


 An image of the information booklet titled :"Certificate of Authority". Notice that on the Certificate image towards the middle is mentioned "Reverse designer: Benedetto Pistrucci".
 An image of the coin specifications as contained in the "Certificate of Authenticity Booklet" mentioning "Reverse designer: Paul Day".

 I have taken up with MMTC-PAMP as follows:

I have recently bought Gold Sovereigns minted by MMTC PAMP in 2013 & 2014. The Royal Mint Authentication certificate on both the coins mentions that "Benedetto Pistrucci" is the Reverse side coin designer, but the information booklet issued with the 2013 Sovereign, accompanying the coins mentions that the Reverse designer as "Paul Day".  I am aware that the reverse design of the 2012 Gold sovereign was made by Paul Day. Either the Royal Mint Authentication Certificate is wrong or the information contained in the accompanying booklet is wrong. Please reconcile this discrepancy & let me know what is the correct position.

 MMTC-PAMP response  has not come even though more than a year has passed (04.12.15).
 
About Benedetto Pistrucci (20.05.1783 – 16.09.1855), the famous reverse designer of the St. George slaying the Dragon image:

He was a distinguished Italian gem engraver who held the position of Chief Medalist and was a coin engraver at the Royal Mint in England. He could not be appointed as the Chief engraver, despite being more than competent for the Post, because of his foreign origin. Nevertheless, the Royal Mint reached a compromise by appointing a native to the post of Chief Engraver and giving the assignment of Chief Medallist to Pistrucci in 1828.

The massive Recoinage programmewas carried out by the Royal Mint, which minted standard gold Sovereigns, circulating crowns and half crowns depicting the famous image of St. George & the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci).

Pistrucci created the famous St. George & the Dragon design used on British gold “Sovereigns” (The “Sovereign” is a gold coin of the United Kingdom named after the English Gold Sovereign, which was last minted in 1604. The name of this coin was revived with the Great Recoinage of 1816).

Minting of new Sovereigns began in 1817. Sovereigns were minted in the U.K from 1817 to 1917, 1925 and from 1957 onwards apart from being minted in Australia, India, Canada and South Africa among others.

Pistrucci made the dies for the coinage from 1817 onwards. The Crowns were issued in 1818, 1819 and 1820. Meanwhile, Sovereigns bearing the St. George & the Dragon design appeared from 1817-1820, as did half-sovereigns. In addition, in 1820, he engraved a George III Five Pound piece, of which only 25 pieces were initially minted, but upon the passing away of the King, quite a few more were minted by the Royal Mint, U.K.

Pistrucci also engraved the early coins of George IV’s reign which included double sovereigns (in 1823), Half Sovereigns (1821, 1823-25), Crown (1821-22) Pattern Crown etc.

Pistrucci stopped working on coinage in 1825, but continued working as a Medallist till 1849. He is well known for the coronation medal of King George IV, the silver seal for the Duchy of Lancaster and his most famous medal the “Waterloo Medal” which took him over thirty years to complete.

20 Pound silver coins containing the image of St. George and the Dragon were issued in 2013, by the Royal Mint UK for the first time bearing the famous design of Benedetto Pistrucci, as a celebratory gesture commemorating the birth of Prince George. For more on this coin please click on the following link: (A twenty pound silver coin containing the St. George slaying the dragon design issued in 2013)

The legends of St. George and the Dragon:
The “Golden Legend”: 
A tenth century legend called the “Golden legend” refers to a fictional place called “Lasia” or “Silene” in Libya, where an Emperor called Selinus ruled.  In a pond located in the city, lived a plague-bearing dragon which had envenomed the whole area and spread a plague upon the people. To appease the dragon, the residents of Silene presented it with two sheep every day and when their sheep had all been consumed by the dragon, they began feeding it their children, chosen by lottery (since there was no Emergency help number 911 for the children nor were there any child protection services, these being the so-called “Dark Ages”, so the parents thought, better the little “tykes” be eaten by the Dragon than they themselves). 

No one cared about the little children, until the King’s own daughter called “Sabra” got chosen as the Dragon’s meal for the day. So, like in modern times, unless a VVIP’s relative/son/daughter is involved, no one in authority is bothered about the lot of commoners, the King, distraught with grief, requested the townspeople that she be spared and anyone else was welcome to take her place. For good measure he was prepared to throw in all his gold and silver, as well as half his kingdom, but as the lottery was fairly and squarely won by the King’s daughter, there were no takers for his proposal – VVIP or not!! So, the King’s daughter was dressed up as a “bride” and led out to the Lake for the Dragon to feast on her.

Saint George chanced by the Lake, (having travelled over water and land from afar) and on seeing the trembling VVIP “Maid in Distress”, vowed to stay and defend the princess against the Dragon, much against her protestations that the Dragon was a very powerful creature and no one could fight him and live. The Dragon happened to come by for his “Feast” and caught the two of them conversing with each other. St. George on seeing the dragon, fortified himself with the “Sign of the Cross”, charged at the Dragon on his trusted steed, with his lance called “Ascalon” and inflicted a grievous wound upon the Dragon. St. George, then, shouted to the princess to throw him her girdle which he put around the dragon’s neck. Apparently, the dragon’s “flame-thrower” was out of order when this skirmish took place, so it couldn’t do anything much because he had no “fire-power”, therefore it had no option left, except to follow the Princess like a meek beast on a leash back to Silene (much like “horrible baddies” who start begging for their lives once their “gang” has been eliminated by an Action Movie’s Hero).

Once St. George and the Princess led the Dragon back to Silene, St. George called the King and the towns-people and told them that if they became Christians and got baptized, he would slay the dragon before them. The King and 15000 men who were present at the scene immediately embraced Christianity and were baptized, (without women and children, who had stayed home for fear of the dragon) and George slew the Dragon and its quartered body was carted out of the city in four ox-carts (Apparently no one gave the poor bound Dragon a thought who had by now almost become domiciled – particularly as there was no PETA or SPCA, for the atrocity committed against a bound and helpless animal, the so-called “Dragon”).

At the site of the Dragon’s slaying, the King built a Church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. George and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease in the land.

Another legend tells of St. George travelling by land & sea for many months till he reached Libya. He met a poor hermit who spoke of the land being ravaged by a Dragon and mentioned, that, the Dragon was demanding the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden on a daily basis. Now, as only the King’s daughter remained, she would be the last one to be sacrificed, unless, someone, perhaps a knight like George, slayed the Dragon and saved her (See no one thinks of saving you unless you are a VVIP!!). As an added incentive, the hermit added that the King would give his daughter in marriage to the champion who overcame this “terrible monster”.

George was all the more determined to save the Princess Sabra and on seeing the beautiful princess at the head of a ladies’ procession on her way to meet the Dragon, told her to return to the King’s palace and went on ahead to confront the Dragon.  The Dragon charged at George with a loud thunder-like roar. It is said that its tail was 50 feet long and it had very tough scales. George’s lance broke into several pieces with the impact as he struck the Dragon. The impact was so hard that George fell from his steed but recovered himself and struck the beast with his sword, but the Dragon poured poison on him and his armour split into two. Fortunately his sword was still intact and he charged the dragon and struck it in a vulnerable area which had no scales, killing it. (Fortunately for everyone, otherwise the legend may have been reworded as “The Dragon and St. George”).

A third legend places the scene of action in the village of Wormingford in Essex, England. The Dragon is believed to be a crocodile which was fond of carrying away and eating small children and was slain in the River Stour by Sir George Marney of Layer de Haye, who killed the “dragon” (crocodile) with his lance. The church in Wormingford, dedicated to St. Andrew, has a stained glass window depicting this episode. 

The Patron Saint of England: St. George was also regarded as a Christian Martyr who took part in the First Crusade and a shrine of George exists at Lydda which is also the location where the Greek hero Perseus rescued Princess Andromeda from an evil sea-serpent. By the 13th century, St. George the dragon slayer had gained the red cross of a crusading knight and had come to represent the victory of good over evil. In England, he became the national patron saint and the chivalric cult of St. George led to the creation of the Order of the Garter founded in 1348 by Edward III, with its insignia containing the badge or jewel of St. George slaying the dragon.

Be that as it may, St. George is regarded as the patron Saint of Britain and the East India Company’s first fort/establishment in India, at Madras (present day Chennai – “Fort St. George”) was named after him.

Posted on 20.12.2014:


The Royal Mint, U.K. has now announced that it is retailing a two-Sovereign set of Coins – the first one dated 1918 and the second one dated 2014. Both Sovereigns bear the distinctive Mint mark “I” on the mound below the St. George & the Dragon image on the reverse of the coin, which is a mint mark standing for "India". 


Both coins are struck in 22 carat gold – the first Sovereign was minted at the then Bombay Mint (present day Mumbai Mint, which was declared a branch of the Royal Mint, UK in 1917), in 1918 and is of a circulating standard while the other Sovereign minted in 2014 is of bullion standard, minted by MMTC-PAMP, again in India.
A total of 100 two-coin sets will be sold by the Royal Mint, UK.
Posted on 04.12.2015:
Below is the image of  a gold Sovereign minted by MMTC-PAMP in India during the year 2015. The specifications of this coin are the same as the earlier 2013 & 2014 coins. 

 Reverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in a stylized coin card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India. The coin card shows an image of St. George slaying the dragon. The “I” mint mark is engraved in the centre of the mound representing that this coin has been made in India. The initials of the reverse coin designer “BP” (Benedetto Pistrucci) appear below the right hand side of the mound. On the coin card is mentioned “The 2015 Sovereign”.
 Obverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in the coin card. It shows an image of the Queen facing right. The peripheral inscription is “ELIZABETH.II. DEI.GRA. REGINA.FID.DEF.” (MEANING “Elizabeth II By the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith). Below the Queen’s neck on her portrait are the initials “IRB” (standing for Ian Rank-Broadley, the designer of this Queen’s portrait).
As a new Queen Elizabeth II's portrait has been introduced in 2015 made by Jody Clark (initials JC), I wonder, if MMTC-PAMP will offer Collectors the new Portrait of the Queen in 2016 or continue with the same dies.

Posted on 17.12.2016:

Below is the image of  a gold Sovereign minted by MMTC-PAMP in India during the year 2016. The specifications of this coin are the same as the earlier 2013, 2014 and 2015 coins:


 Reverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in a stylized coin card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India. The coin card shows an image of St. George slaying the dragon. The “I” mint mark is engraved in the centre of the mound representing that this coin has been made in India. The initials of the reverse coin designer “BP” (Benedetto Pistrucci) appear below the right hand side of the mound. On the coin card is mentioned “The 2016 Sovereign”.


 Obverse of the Gold Sovereign contained in the coin card. It shows an image of the Queen facing right. The peripheral inscription is “ELIZABETH.II. DEI.GRA. REGINA.FID.DEF.” (MEANING “Elizabeth II By the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith).
As a new Queen Elizabeth II's portrait has been introduced in 2015 made by Jody Clark (initials JC) below the Queen's neck. This Sovereign bears the new Portrait of the Queen.

Posted on 31.05.2018:

I am placing below the scanned image of a Gold Sovereign issued in 2017 by MMTC-PAMP, which again has the same specification as the earlier issues of Gold Sovereigns:




The Reverse of the Gold Sovereign housed in a stylised coin card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India, with the iconic image of St. George slaying the dragon. This coin too bears the "I" mint mark in the centre of the mound below the St. George/Dragon image and bearing the initials "BP" (for the designer Benedetto Pistrucci) below the right side of the mound.


The Obverse of the 2017 Gold Sovereign , showing Queen Elizabeth's effigy facing right. The peripheral inscriptions read - " ELIZABETH II. DEI GRA. REGINA. FID. DEF". 

The initials of the effigy designer "JC" (standing for Jody Clark) appear below the Queen's neck).


The elegant Box in which the encapsulated Coin Card is housed.

Posted on 13.07.2019:

The 2018 Sovereign minted by MMTC-PAMP is now available at the various outlets identified by them. The Coin with the "I" mint mark minted by MMTC-PAMP is now quite popular among Collectors. This Gold Coin too has the same specifications as the earlier sovereign issues by MMTC-PAMP.

Interestingly, 2018 marks the Centenary Anniversary of the first time the Gold Sovereign was minted in India at the Bombay Mint in 1918 (when  it was declared a branch of the Royal Mint, UK in 1917). As such the 2018 issues are a "must-have" for every Indian Numismatist's collection, even as it is much sought after piece by International collectors.

 In keeping with the anniversary celebrations, MMTC-PAMP has revamped the packaging of the Sovereign Coin-Card, which now bears a more elegant and attractive look:



The Reverse of the Gold Sovereign issued in 2018, is placed in a revamped Coin-Card issued by MMTC-PAMP in India with the image of St. George and the dragon. This coin bears a prominent "I" Mint mark on the mound below the central image of St. George & the dragon. The initials of the original designer "BP" (standing for Benedetto Pistrucci) appear below the right side of the mound.

The Obverse of the 2018 Gold Sovereign is identical to the earlier issues in its inscriptions and design.

The Coin Card bears the Royal Mint UK's Certificate of Authenticity (COA), as in the earlier issues by MMTC-PAMP.















(The MMTC-PAMP created Sovereigns in 2013, 2014 & 2016 have been brought for my Collection by Jayant Biswas from Mumbai/New Delhi. The 2015 and the 2018 Sovereigns are from the collection of Jayant Biswas. Post researched and written and coins scanned for this post by Rajeev Prasad)


Links:

British Crown Dependencies:

1) Specimen Banknotes from the States of Jersey

2) Coinage and Currency from the States of Jersey

3) Currency & Coinage of the Bailiwick of Guernsey

4) Currency & Coinage of Gibraltar : An Overseas Territory of Great Britain

5) Coinage of Gibraltar: (A British Overseas Territory): An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by the Tower Mint, UK in 2010
  
6) The Isle of Man: An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by Pobjoy Mint, UK in 2015

7) The Centenary of the ill-fated Titanic (15.04.1912 - 15.04.2012): An Alderney Five Pound Coin Commemorating the Maritime Legend

8) "Man of Steel": A Superman Movie: A set of stamps brought out in 2013 by Jersey post, the States of Jersey, commemorating Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill who played Superman in the Movie

9) Coins & Currency of Bermuda

10) The Bailiwick of Jersey - Presently circulating coinage - Pounds and Pence 

11) St. Helena & Ascension Islands: An Uncirculated Coin Set from 2003 

12) The Legend of the "HMAV Bounty" is interwoven with the heritage of the Pitcairn Islands: An uncirculated coin set from Pitcairn Islands in 2009 depicting the icons/relics of the Bounty minted by the New Zealand Mint 

Famous Battles

1) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to St. Helena: (Part I): A One Crown Commemorative coin issued by the Ascension Island (minted by Pobjoy Mint UK) 

2) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to st. Helena: (Part II) 1) A 5 GBP Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK. 2) A"Drie Landen Zilverset" ( ot the "Three Lands Silver set") containing coins issued by the Royal Dutch Mint including coins of Netherlands, Belgium and UK

3) Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain by issuing a 50 Pence coin by the Royal Mint UK

Gold Coins:
  
1) Gold Sovereigns issued in 2013 & 2014 by MMTC-PAMP in India under licence from the Royal Mint, UK, carrying the "I" Mint Mark

2) Gold Half-Sovereigns minted by MMTC-PAMP in India in 2014 under licence from the Royal Mint UK bearing the "I" Mint Mark 

Silver Coins:

1) A 20 Pound Silver coin minted for the first timr by the royal Mint UK: reverse design carries the famous St. George slaying the dragon design found on Gold Sovereigns 

British India Coinage:

 1) East India Company Quarter Anna Copper Coin which is one of the first issues under the Coinage Act 1835

2) Victoria Coinage: When she was Queen and afterwards Empress

3) Edward VII: King & Emperor  Coinage

4) George V King Emperor Coinage

5) George VI: The last of the British India Emperors Coinage 

Other British Royalty: 

1) Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations (1952-2012): A Five Pound Commemorative coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK

2) Commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953: A Five Pound Coin minted by the Royal Mint UK in 2013, depicting the Imperial State Crown

3) The Royal Coat of Arms of the UK: Great British 2012 Coin Set (Uncirculated) issued by the Royal Mint UK

4) Prince George's Christening Ceremony celebrated with coins issued by the Royal Mint UK in 2013

5) The British Empire:  A Case of Numismatic "segregation": (Guest Post by Rahul Kumar)

6) 1) The Portrait Collection: Various Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II on Coinage 2) The Fourth & Final Circulating coinage of the Portrait designed by Ian Rank-Broadley and the First Edition of the portrait of the Queen made by Jody Clark

 British Coinage:

1) The contribution of the Great British One-Pound coins in keeping alive the historical legends/emblems/heritage of the UK (1983 onwards)

2) Transformation of a Five shilling Coin (Crown) into the UK Twenty-five Pence & then the Five Pound Coin

3) Transformation of the Two Shilling Coin (Florin) Coin into the UK Ten Pence

4) The 350th Anniversary of the Guinea: A Two Pound Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK celebrating the milestone

 Commemorative British Coinage:

 1) Commemorating the Bicentenary of Charles Dickens: A Two pound coin celebrating his literary contributions during the Victorian Era

 2) Commemorating 50 Years of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - presently called the World Wide Fund for Nature by issue of a Fifty Pence coin by the Royal Mint, UK

3) Coins commemorating London Olympics & Paralympics (2012)

4) Commemorating 150 Years of the London Underground : Two pound Coins minted by the Royal Mint UK, showing the "Roundel" logo and a train emerging from a tunnel 

5) Commemorating the 100th Birth anniversary of Christopher Ironside with his" Royal Arms" design on a 50 Pence coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK 

6) 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta - the Universal Guidepost to Liberty and Freedom

Inspirations from Scottish History: 

1) The Legend of King Bruce & the Spider on Banknotes

Banknotes from Scotland:
  
1) Commemorating Sir William Arrol and his creation the Forth Rail Bridge by issues of Britain's first ever 5 Pound Polymer Banknote

39 comments:

  1. Raka Prasad has commented:
    "Would love to buy it".

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  2. When you are going to buy it, collect at least one for me too!!

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  3. Ramchandra Lalingkar has commented on 29.03.14:
    "Is it a Commemorative Coin issued by British Govt? If so, then why it is issued in India?"

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    Replies

    1. It is a gold bullion coin which when initially issued in early 1800s was only the equivalent of one British Pound. It is very popular in India as well. Recently, I read a news item in The Hindu in Chennai where in three separate incidents 46 gold Sovereigns were snatched from three ladies who were wearing them in their necklaces. The licence was given by the Royal Mint U.K. to MMTC-PAMP, as a special case during the visit of David Cameron to India in February 2013, in view of the popularity of this coin in India. Minting it in India also gives an arbitrage opportunity to buyers, because it sells at the prevailing gold prices of the day, making the coin more accessible to Indians at cheaper rates. This coin has the potential to really appreciate in value, because of the Royal Mint UK specifications.

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    2. R.N. Laligkar has commented on 31.03.14:
      "Thanks for the information. If such Gold Coins are so popular, then why is the Indian Govt. not issuing such commemorative Gold Coins with images of personalities of Indian reference? Such Gold Coins will be also popular, I think. We Indians should also be proud of our own personalities/culture".

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    3. The Sovereigns and the Guineas (minted before 1817) have been very popular coins the World over, like the Mexican & Spanish Pesos or the Italian Ducats. I remember that when a swimming pool was being dug in Pune for the Commonwealth Youth Games, 1000 gold coins were discovered by the labourers who were caught selling them and these coins were impounded in the State Treasury. All these coins were gold Ducats from the 1700s which noblewomen used to wear in their necklaces in Maharashtra too. I agree with you entirely that commemorative gold coins should be issued for Indian personalities too. The Mahatma Gandhi silver coin (1969) and the recently issued "1000 years of Brihadeeswarar Temple" silver coins (both having 80% silver content) are extremely popular coins and sell for huge amounts. Imagine if they had been issued in gold, then their sentimental value would have been phenomenal! apart from their metal content value!!

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  4. Rattan Nath has commented 0n 01.04.14:
    "It makes no sense that it would sell for more in England. Gold is at a premium in India not in London. Unless the gold for the coin is being discounted in India for some strange reason, you have it backwards".

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    Replies
    1. The fact remains that the coin card containing the MMTC-PAMP Sovereign was selling at a massive premium and is presently out of stock at the Royal Mint, U.K. (particularly due to its USP for owning an India issued Sovereign and due to the limited number of issues). On ebay , you will find it selling for anywhere between Rs.50,000/- to Rs.70,000/-. The gold Sovereign minted at the Royal Mint itself sells for around 390 GBP which works out to about Rs.39000/- whereas we can buy the coin for around Rs.24000/- in India at Mumbai based outlets provided the coin is in stock.

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    2. Rattan Nath has commented:
      " Looks like an opportunity for arbitrage. Buy and export! By the way, Ebay is not a reliable marker price indicator or even authentic goods indicator. It is not possible that water flows uphill this naturally".

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    3. Yes, there is an arbitrage opportunity . Even if we discount ebay sales as you say, a minimum standard selling price has been set by the Royal Mint UK. In fact they were retailing the Indian Sovereign issues for much higher rates, on account of importing the coin cards from India. You will be surprised that at a coin exhibition in Pune, I enquired about the price of a gold one mohur issued during Queen Victoria's reign. The Auctioneer's coin catalogue mentoned the reserve bidding price as Rs 5.00 lacs . It all depends on a collector's interest as well as his capacity to pay for something he wants badly to be in his collection. Likewise, Sovereigns acquire more value than the normal Indian gold coins sold by jewellers/Banks, because of their "historical" connection/arbitrage opportunities and collector's interest of acquiring an India minted Sovereign with an "I" mint mark. No wonder then,that the first lot of MMTC-PAMP issues were all pre-booked and vanished from sales outlets within two days and are now being re-minted !!
      Yesterday at 8:23am • Like

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  5. This is an interesting development... does this qualify to be called a re-strike?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, this is an original strike. Only the design has remained the same for several years. Also, this is the first time, that the coins have been struck by MMTC-PAMP i.e. not by a coining mint.

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    2. Also, by definition, a restrike means that coins have been struck in the original dies in which they had earlier been minted, which is definitely not the case here.

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  6. Hello, could you tell me where you got the 2016 Sovereign from? Also, do you know if there is a 2017 Sovereign? Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Dave,
      We had earlier thought that Royal mint, UK had given a three year contract to MMTC-PAMP from 2013 to 2015 to mint Gold Sovereigns. We were rather surprised when on checking the MMTC_PAMP website at the following link, we saw the image of a 2016 Sovereign: http://www.mmtcpamp.com/product/SOVEREIGN
      Upon checking with one of the retailers under the "Where to buy" button, we managed to get two Gold sovereigns from MMTC-PAMP's office directly in New Delhi.

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    2. We are still waiting for the 2017 issues. Also, to our best knowledge,Gold Half-Sovereigns were only issued by MMTC_PAMP in 2014 under a special notification. In case we come across any further issues of Gold Half sovereign, in addition to the 2016 issue, I will update the information posted here.

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    3. Please read 2016 as 2017 in the comment posted at 23.21 above.

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    4. Thanks for the answers. Please keep the information coming.

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    5. Some information here: https://sites.google.com/view/thepettyhoard/home

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    6. Thanks for sharing, Dave. Useful information.

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  7. Santosh Khanna has commented:
    "Excellent information about the British Gold Sovereign".

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  8. Rajendrasinh Mohite has commented:
    "Great information and collection."

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your constant encouragement, Sir.

      Delete
  9. Jaya Lakshmi has commented:
    "Good information"

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rajiv Kudesia has commented:
    "Ginnie kae barey Mae Jo jankari aapnay di hai, uskaey liaye aapko dhanayawad, Sir ji."

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pradip Bhaduri has commented:
    "Extra ordinary efforts,precious ancient value."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Gold Sovereign has got an over 200 year history, dating back to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It is being minted in India now since 2013 by MMTC PAMP. The only Silver Sovereign was minted at the time of Prince George's birth by the Royal Mint UK.

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  12. Thank you for such a informative article. Indians are very obsessed with the gold, you can check before investing in gold and rices of gold in India and in other countries, here it is Is it better to buy Gold Overseas or in India?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you, Shubhangi for visiting the Blog and your comment.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for such a informative article. For more information please visit our website: https://www.bullionstore.co.uk/
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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Blog and your appreciative comment.

      Delete
  15. Find the Best Gold Sovereigns for your business and requirements. Thanks for such a valuable post!

    ReplyDelete
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