Draft:South African sovereign
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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.
South Africa | |
| Value | £1 |
|---|---|
| Mass | 7.98805 g |
| Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Thickness | 1.52 mm |
| Edge | Milled |
| Composition | .917 gold, .083 copper |
| Gold | 0.2354 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 1923 - 1932 |
| Mint marks | SA |
| Obverse | |
 | |
| Design | The British monarch (George V at the time) |
| Reverse | |
 | |
| Design | Saint George and the Dragon |
| Designer | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Design date | 1927 |
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. 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.[1]
Background
[edit]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. [2] [3]
The South African branch mint was the last of the branch mints to be founded, and the last to strike sovereigns, producing the coin for more than a decade after minting ceased in London.[4]
Production
[edit]| Year | Mintage[5] |
|---|---|
| 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
[edit]- ^ "Mints and Mint Marks - South African Pretoria Mint".
- ^ "1930 George V Sovereign, South Africa Mint Mark".
- ^ "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.
- ^ "1928 Pretoria Mint Gold Full Sovereign King George V South African Coin".
- ^ ’’Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins’’, Third Edition, Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, Krause Publications, 1992, Iola Wisconsin, p. 689