How Much Is a Gold Sovereign Worth?
The collector’s value of a gold sovereign varies depending on the year and condition of the coin and on the grams of gold it contains. At the very least, a sovereign is worth whatever the current price of gold is. A mint-condition gold sovereign contains a gold content of 0.2354 ounces or 7.322 grams, but calculating the gold price does not take into account the historic value.
The British sovereign gold coin is a 22-karat gold bullion coin; therefore a sovereign is approximately 1/4 ounce of pure gold. The British sovereign coin bears no value as official currency. Since its inception, a half sovereign has also been issued, and this coin contains one-half the gold content of the full gold sovereign.
The British sovereign was first produced in 1489 England, as ordered by King Henry the VII. Gold sovereigns were produced in Great Britain until 1914 but were discontinued when they abandoned the gold standard. The production of gold sovereign coins continued for a while longer in Australia, India and a few other countries closely associated with England, finally stopping in 1932, when the last coin was minted in Pretoria, South Africa. Production resumed again in 1957, continuing still to this date. More than 1 billion gold sovereign coins have been minted.
