Specifications
- Denomination
- 1 sovereign
- Series
- Australian Gold Sovereigns
- Designer
- Benedetto Pistrucci (St. George reverse; obverse portrait varies by monarch)
- Composition
- 91.67% Gold, 8.33% Copper
- Weight
- 7.9881 g
- Diameter
- 22.05 mm
- Edge
- Reeded
- Key mintages
- No series-wide total verified across the three branch mints.
Melt value: $1,022.95
Gold-rush sovereigns from the southern hemisphere: 7.9881 g of 22-carat gold holding 0.2354 oz pure — the S, M, and P mint marks tell Sydney from Melbourne from Perth.
History
- Australian gold sovereigns were struck at three branch mints of the Royal Mint — Sydney (S, from 1855), Melbourne (M, from 1872), and Perth (P, from 1899) — and were legal tender to the same 7.9881 g, 22-carat standard as the London sovereign (coinnews.net).
- The coins carry the reigning monarch's portrait on the obverse — Victoria, Edward VII, or George V depending on date — with Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the Dragon reverse (newcastlegoldbuyers.com.au; coinnews.net).
- The mint mark appears in the reverse exergue, just below the dragon — S for Sydney, M for Melbourne, P for Perth (coinnews.net).
- The Perth Mint opened in 1899 as the third and last Australian branch mint, making P-mint sovereigns a shorter series than Sydney and Melbourne (coinnews.net).
What is it worth
- Melt value = 0.2354 × the current gold spot price per troy ounce (coinnews.net). Common-date circulated pieces trade at a modest premium over melt as bullion (Heritage Auctions).
- Branch-mint premiums run above London sovereigns in comparable grade; late-19th-century Melbourne Mint sovereigns are noted as highly collectible (newcastlegoldbuyers.com.au).
What drives the premium
- Value drivers: 0.2354 troy oz of pure gold sets the floor; the branch mint mark (Perth the scarcest of the three), the monarch's portrait type, date rarity, and condition set the premium (coinnews.net; newcastlegoldbuyers.com.au).
How to identify the valuable variety
- Check the mint mark below the dragon in the reverse exergue: S (Sydney), M (Melbourne), or P (Perth) (coinnews.net).
- Identify the monarch: Victoria's veiled or young-head portraits, Edward VII, and George V issues each form their own sub-series with different keys (newcastlegoldbuyers.com.au; coinnews.net).
- Confirm 7.9881 g and 22.05 mm — the sovereign standard shared with London (Heritage Auctions; coinnews.net).
Specifications
- Composition: 22-carat gold (91.67% Au) (coinnews.net)
- Weight: 7.9881 g (coinnews.net)
- Gold content: 0.2354 troy oz AGW — 7.9881 g × 0.9167 (coinnews.net); melt value = 0.2354 × the current gold spot price
- Diameter: 22.05 mm (coinnews.net)
- Edge: Reeded (Heritage Auctions)
- Designers: Obverse: portrait of the reigning monarch (Victoria, Edward VII, or George V); reverse: Benedetto Pistrucci — St George and the Dragon (coinnews.net; newcastlegoldbuyers.com.au)
- Mints: Sydney (S), Melbourne (M), Perth (P) — mint mark in the reverse exergue (coinnews.net)
- Years: 1855–1931 across the three branch mints; Perth from 1899 (coinnews.net)
Collector notes
- Quick authenticity screen: a genuine sovereign weighs 7.99 g and measures 22.05 mm (coinnews.net; Heritage Auctions).
- See also the World Gold Coins hub for more classic gold issues.
Market check
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