Draft:South African sovereign

  • Comment: This claim "Unlike sovereigns struck in Canada or India, sovereigns minted in South Africa were a unit of the local currency in circulation at the time" needs a citation. Also needs reliable sources (websites trying to sell you coins is not the most reliable). Abzeronow (talk) 22:02, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

The South African sovereign is a British one pound coin (known as a sovereign) minted from 1923 to 1932 at the Royal Mint’s Pretoria branch. It has an “SA” mint mark, to distinguish it from sovereigns struck in the UK or at other branches of the Royal Mint.

Sovereign
South Africa
Value£1
Mass7.98805 g
Diameter22.0 mm
Thickness1.52 mm
EdgeMilled
Composition.917 gold, .083 copper
Gold0.2354 troy oz
Years of minting1923 - 1932
Mint marksSA
Obverse
DesignThe British monarch (George V at the time)
Reverse
DesignSaint George and the Dragon
DesignerBenedetto Pistrucci
Design date1927

Unlike sovereigns struck in Canada or India, sovereigns minted in South Africa were a unit of the local currency in circulation at the time, the South African Pound [1]. Half sovereigns were also minted at the Pretoria branch.

Sovereigns struck at the Pretoria mint are usually called South African Mint Sovereigns or South African Sovereigns, as opposed to Pretoria mint sovereigns. [2]

Background

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During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Royal Mint established branch mints across the world near newly discovered sources of gold, rather than shipping the heavy metal to London. One of these branches was opened in Pretoria in 1923. [3] [4]

The South African branch mint was the last of the branch mints to strike sovereigns. [5]


Production

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Year Mintage[6]
1923 64
1923 Proof 655
1924 3,184
1925 6,085,000
1926 11,108,000
1927 16,380,000
1928 18,235,000
1929 12,024,000
1930 10,028,000
1931 8,512,000
1932 1,067,000

References

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  1. ^ ’’1991 Standard Catalog of World Coins’’, Seventeenth Edition, Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, Krause Publications, 1990, Iola Wisconsin, p. 1556
  2. ^ "Mints and Mint Marks - South African Pretoria Mint".
  3. ^ "1930 George V Sovereign, South Africa Mint Mark".
  4. ^ "The History of the South African Mint". southcapecoins.co.za. 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  5. ^ "1932 George V Sovereign South Africa Mint Mark".
  6. ^ ’’Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins’’, Third Edition, Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, Krause Publications, 1992, Iola Wisconsin, p. 689