Sovereign (English coin) facts for kids

Sovereign of Elizabeth I (1583–1600)

The sovereign was a special gold coin made in England a long time ago. It was first made in 1489 when King Henry VII was in charge. This coin was worth about one pound sterling, which was a lot of money back then! But people didn't use it for everyday shopping. It was more like a fancy piece of gold, often given as a gift.

The coin was called "sovereign" because it was big and showed a grand picture of the king. The first coins showed King Henry VII sitting on his throne. On the other side, you could see the Royal Arms of England and a special Tudor rose with two layers of petals.

When the first sovereigns were made, they had a lot of gold. They were 23-carat gold, which means they were almost pure gold (95.83% gold). They weighed about half a troy ounce. Later, King Henry VIII changed the gold content to 22 carats (91.67% gold). This 22-carat gold became the standard for gold coins in England and later in the United States. It was known as crown gold.

The sovereign coin was quite large, about 42 millimetres (1.7 in) across. It weighed 15.55 grams, which was twice as heavy as other gold coins at the time. King Henry VII started making these coins because a lot of gold was coming into Europe from West Africa. He first called it the "double ryal" but soon changed the name to "sovereign." It was too valuable for everyday use, so it was probably given as a special gift to important people. Sometimes, an even bigger version called a double sovereign was made for these gifts.

The coin had a Latin message on it: "A DNO' FACTU' EST ISTUD ET EST MIRAB' IN OCULIS NRS." This is short for "A DOMINO FACTUM EST ISTUD ET EST MIRABILE IN OCULIS NOSTRIS." It means "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes." This quote comes from Psalm 118 in the Bible.

The Sovereign's Replacement

When King James I became the King of England in 1603, he also made a sovereign coin. But the next year, after he announced he was King of Great Britain, he introduced a new coin. This new coin was called the unite. It was worth twenty shillings, just like the sovereign. The "unite" coin showed that James had brought together the crowns of Scotland and England.

The unite coin, and later other coins like the laurel and the broad, took the sovereign's place in the 1600s. After that, the guinea became the main gold coin. However, the guinea's value changed to 21 shillings in 1717. It wasn't until 1817 that a 20-shilling coin was brought back. This new coin was also called the sovereign, and it is still made today as a British coin.

See also

• Half sovereign - a gold coin that was worth half of an English (and later, British) sovereign.