1817 George 111 Gold Sovereign

This is the principal issue of the "present day" sovereign that is still delivered today.

Taking after a generous redesign of the Royal Mint by William Wellesley Pole, a scope of new gold coins were endorsed by the Prince Regent. The divisions were to be the ten-shilling, twenty-shilling, forty-shilling and five pound pieces. Or, on the other hand, as we probably am aware them today, the half sovereign, full sovereign, twofold sovereign and £5 crown. At twenty shillings, the full sovereign conveyed a face estimation of £1.

On the front-side face, George III wears a "crown" of tree leaves, thus it is depicted as a laureate head. The laureate is tied at the back with a strip and shaped into a bow. The now recognizable picture of St. George killing the winged serpent by Benedetto Pisctucci graces the invert. His initials can be found on the ground, simply under the broken shaft of his lance. Underneath it, on the clasp are the initials WWP for William Wellesley Pole, the Master of the Mint.

The first 'sovereign', first created in 1489 amid the rule of Henry VII was an alternate coin inside and out. At 15.55g, it was double the heaviness of the cutting edge sovereign and was stamped in 23ct gold rather than 22ct which what it is today.