1902 Gold Sovereign


1902 Gold Sovereign

The 1902 Gold Sovereign is the first sovereign in the reign of King Edward VII. London mint.

The 1902 London Sovereign depicts Benedetto Pistrucci’s famous portrayal of St George slaying the dragon can be seen on the reverse of the coin. No letter above the date indicates the sovereign was produced in London.

King Edward VII’s portrait, by George W. de Saulles, can be seen on the obverse of the coin.

Image credit: M J Hughes Coins


Mintage: 4,737,796 (may include coins in sets)
Minted at The Royal Mint.
Remember 1902 ?
The Monarch is Edward VII, who has his Coronation at Westminster Abbey. Lord Salisbury retires as Prime Minister due to ill health and is succeeded by his nephew Arthur Balfour. Lord Salisbury will be the last person to have sat in the House of Lords as Prime Minister. The first Borstal youth detention centre is opened at Borstal, Kent. Second Boer War continues, and not always well for Britain. Manchester United Football Club is formed by John Henry Davies in a name change from Newton Heath. In the Discovery Expedition, Scott, Shackleton and Wilson reach the furthest southern point ever eached by man up until then, south of 82°S. The British Army adopts a dark khaki replacing the traditional red coat. Marmite is first produced. Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Hound of the Baskervilles, Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories and Beatrix Potter Tale of Peter Rabbit with her own colour illustrations.
Edward VII (1901-1910)
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. Edward was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.

Five Pound, Two Pound and Crowns were only released in 1902. The 1902 Proof set for the Coronation is unusual in that it had a Matt finish. Gold Sovereign mintages were high during the reign of Edward VII, averaging more than 10 million per year which makes them fairly common even today.
Category: Sovereigns
The 1902 Gold Sovereign is an example of the Gold Sovereign and is one of the most ubiquitous of all coins and much sought after by both coin collectors and bullion investors. Sovereigns have been minted since 1817 (in Britain 1817-1917, 1925 and 1957 on). At coins fairs you often hear the dealers refer to these coins as Sovs.

Besides being minted in Britain, Sovereigns have been made in Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth), India (then Bombay, now Mumbai), Canada (Ottawa) and South Africa (Pretoria) although these regional mints have not made sovereigns since 1932 (although India has produced some recently in a private mint partnership with the Royal Mint). The non-British coins carry a small mintmark ('S','M','P','I','C' or 'SA') just above the date. This 1902 Gold Sovereign was minted at The Royal Mint.

The Obverse is the Monarch's head (Edward VII) and the Reverse is most often St George and the Dragon, although other backs have been used and are of interest to collectors. The Reverse often gives the Sovs a new term, like "ShieldBacks".

Specifications for the Gold Sovereign
 
  • Weight: 7.9881g
  • Diameter: 22.05 mm
  • Thickness: 1.52 mm
  • Purity: 22 carat = 91.67% (11/12ths gold, 1/12th copper. Adding copper makes the coin more scratch and dent resistant)
  • Gold Content: 113 grains = 7.3224 g = 0.2354 troy ounce
  • Face value: £1 = 20 shillings
  • Monarch: Edward VII

History

Up until 1604 there was a coin called the English gold sovereign and in 1816 when there was the "Great Recoinage" the name was revived. At that time standard gold (22 carat) was valued at £46 14s 6d per troy pound; this meant a £1 coin needed to weigh 123.2744783 grains or 7.988030269 g. The weight is still the same today.

As a historical note: to maintain the Gold Standard, in 1816 the value of silver was set at 66 shillings for one troy pound and silver coins were only legal for denominations up to £2.

The first sovereigns carried the head of King George III and the famous George and the Dragon design by Benedetto Pistrucci (29 May 1783 – 16 September 1855), an Italian engraver who became chief medallist at the Royal Mint.

With high value coins such as the 1902 Gold Sovereign, collectors and bullion investors often worry about forgeries but actually gold coins are very difficult to forge due to gold's unique properties of density and colour. Gold is extremely dense and to use another metal and gold-plate it would result in a coin that is under-weight, over-diameter or half as thick, something that would be spotted very easily. More difficult to spot would be a bullion coin melted down and re-cast as a highly collectable date, but an expert can usually tell these too. You should always use reputable dealers.

Which Mint: The Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.
If you don't see a coin in the list below try the Sovereigns page on eBay UK
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List items on:

Edward VII: 1902 Sovereign: Gold Plated: Original Size: UK SELLER
Edward VII: 1902 Sovereign: Gold Plated: Original Size: UK SELLER
£ 3.75
Rare 1902 King Edward VII (7th) Gold Sovereign Melbourne Mint Very fine / mint
Rare 1902 King Edward VII (7th) Gold Sovereign Melbourne Mint Very fine / mint
£ 675.00
EDWARD VII. 1902 GOLD £5/QUINTUPLE SOVEREIGN.
EDWARD VII. 1902 GOLD £5/QUINTUPLE SOVEREIGN.
£ 3,800.00
1902 MATTE PROOF  GOLD SOVEREIGN, EDWARD VII, SLABBED BY NGC PF61 MATTE
1902 MATTE PROOF GOLD SOVEREIGN, EDWARD VII, SLABBED BY NGC PF61 MATTE
£ 1,060.00
1902 EDWARD VII GOLD HALF SOVEREIGN COIN IN NEAR MINT CONDITION.
1902 EDWARD VII GOLD HALF SOVEREIGN COIN IN NEAR MINT CONDITION.
£ 310.00
1902 MATT PROOF EDWARD VII GOLD SOVEREIGN COIN IN EXTREMELY FINE CONDITION.
1902 MATT PROOF EDWARD VII GOLD SOVEREIGN COIN IN EXTREMELY FINE CONDITION.
£ 695.00
1903 King Edward VII 22ct Gold Sovereign coin
1903 King Edward VII 22ct Gold Sovereign coin
£ 499.99
1902 GOLD MATTE PROOF GREAT BRITAIN 1/2 SOVEREIGN EDWARD VII NGC PF 61 HALF SOV
1902 GOLD MATTE PROOF GREAT BRITAIN 1/2 SOVEREIGN EDWARD VII NGC PF 61 HALF SOV
£ 629.33

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