Quarter sovereign facts for kids
| United Kingdom | |
| Value | £0.25 pound sterling |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1.997 g |
| Diameter | 13.5 mm |
| Edge | Milled |
| Composition | .917 gold, .083 copper or other metals |
| Gold | .0588 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 2009–present |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Reigning British monarch (Elizabeth II shown) |
| Reverse | |
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| Design | Saint George and the Dragon |
| Designer | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Design date | 1817 (first used on quarter sovereign in 2009) |
The quarter sovereign is a British bullion and collectors' coin, issued by the Royal Mint since 2009. The smallest in the sovereign range, it has a nominal value of 25 pence.
The Royal Mint had produced two patterns for a quarter sovereign for circulation use, one denominated as five shillings, in 1853, but these coins never went into production, in part due to concerns about their small size and the likely wear in circulation. In 2009, with gold no longer used in circulation, a quarter sovereign was introduced as an extension of the existing range of sovereign coins, which previously ranged from the half sovereign to the five pound gold coin. The quarter sovereign has the same design as the larger coins, most often Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon, which was first used on the sovereign in 1817.
Victorian pattern coin
Pattern gold coins valued at a quarter sovereign (five shillings) were struck in 1853, as the Royal Mint reconsidered which denominations were to be struck in gold and which in silver. At this time, the mint could not process both gold and silver simultaneously, and such a coin was seen as an alternative to the higher-value silver coins. In 1853, there was heavy demand for coins of both metals, but the Royal Mint gave priority to the more valuable gold coinage. On 7 March 1853, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, explained to the House of Commons that the demand for gold was so heavy that there was no opportunity to meet the demand for silver.
On 18 April 1853, the former chancellor, Benjamin Disraeli, enquired in the Commons of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, James Wilson, if consideration had been given to striking a quarter sovereign. Wilson replied that the government had directed that a die be prepared as an experiment. He noted that one difficulty with such a coin was that it would take four times as long to coin the same gold as with a sovereign. Wilson stated that such a coin would be of very small size, about the size of an American one-dollar gold coin, which he held in his hand as he made his statement.
By the end of the month, the Master of the Mint, Sir John Herschel, was able to present to the Treasury two quarter-sovereign pattern coins, but his accompanying report demonstrated that it would be very expensive to strike such coins, which would have to meet exacting standards, and which would wear quickly in circulation, since a smaller denomination would circulate faster than the sovereign, valued at one pound. He also noted that the very small size would make the coin easy to lose, and the light weight would make it difficult to detect counterfeits. He estimated that gold would be lost to the public (either through losing the coins or through abrasion) at fifteen times the rate for the same value of sovereigns.
At the time, a parliamentary select committee was considering decimal coinage, and both Herschel and Thomson Hankey, former governor of the Bank of England, gave evidence before it. William Miller of the Bank of England also testified. All opposed the quarter sovereigns due to the expense of striking and maintaining them, and the committee did not recommend the quarter sovereign. No further action was taken on the quarter sovereign proposal; numismatic writer G. P. Dyer suggested that Herschel would not have spoken so negatively about the quarter sovereign to the select committee unless he knew the proposal was doomed. A quarter sovereign was proposed again by the new Master of the Mint, Thomas Graham, in 1859, but was turned down by Gladstone.
Pieces purporting to be quarter sovereigns dated 1911 or 1922 are not genuine, but are modern inventions.
21st century bullion and collector's coin
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Royal Mint had been striking, for sale to collectors and those wishing to hold gold bullion, sovereigns, half sovereigns, double sovereigns, and five-pound pieces. In 2009, it added quarter sovereigns to the range. Such' pieces do not go into circulation, so the objections of the 1850s did not apply. The coin's specifications and design were stated in a proclamation by the monarch, Elizabeth II (r. 1952 – 2022), dated 10 December 2008 and effective the following day.
The quarter sovereign has not been given its own design, but uses those given to the other coins in the sovereign range. In most years this has featured, on the reverse, Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon that first appeared on the sovereign in 1817. The obverse has shown the reigning monarch.
Other reverse designs used included another interpretation of the George and Dragon, by Paul Day for Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Beginning with some 2015 issues, an obverse portrait of Elizabeth by Jody Clark was used, though in 2016, some coins bore a different portrait of the queen by James Butler. In 2017, a version with the original, 1817 sovereign design was struck. This was for the 200th anniversary of the modern sovereign.
In 2022, the Royal Mint struck quarter sovereigns with a reverse design by Noad showing an interpretation of the Royal Arms. This design, used for the sovereign and its multiples and fractions, was to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Later in the year, following the death of Elizabeth II, the Royal Mint issued memorial coins in the sovereign range, including the quarter sovereign, featuring an interpretation of the Royal Arms by Clark as the reverse, and for the obverse, the first coinage portrait of Elizabeth's successor, Charles III (r. 2022), by Martin Jennings. In 2023, a quarter sovereign commemorating the coronation of Charles III was struck, with the obverse a crowned portrait of the king by Jennings and the reverse the Pistrucci George and Dragon.
From 2009 to 2012 the sovereign, in addition to being issued as a proof coin, was sold as a bullion piece, with authorised mintages of between 50,000 and 250,000, though the actual numbers sold are unreported. It was sold as a proof or other collector's coin in each year, though only in 2009 (13,495 pieces struck) did the mintage reach 10,000. Both varieties of the 2022 quarter sovereign have been sold by the Royal Mint as bullion pieces in addition to the proof format; the same is true of the 2023 coronation issue.
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