Gold 0.21%
£3,218.72 OZ
Silver -2.37%
£48.59 OZ
Platinum -0.49%
£1,360.60 OZ
The Silver Britannia is capital gains tax free in the UK, making is a very popular choice with UK investors
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When collectors imagine what the world’s most expensive Sovereign could be it is likely the imagine a high-grade early issue of George III, a 1937 Sovereign or a low-mintage George IV date. The truth is far from this as the world’s most expensive Gold Sovereign is rather ordinary looking and would not standout from a pile of low-premium bullion coins. This is not to be confused with the rarest Gold Sovereign coin as that type was never struck for circulation
Features George V
Sold at auction in June 2021 for $1,193,200 AUD (c.£650,275)
Certified SP-66 by PCGS in Paris
Dated 1920
Sydney Mint Mark
The world’s most expensive Gold sovereign sold at auction in June 2021 for $1,020,000AUD. The coin features George IV and is dated 1920 with a ‘S’ mintmark, indicating the coin was struck in Sydney. The coin has been certified by PCGS as SP-66 The reason for the high premium on the coin was the rarity of a 1920 coin struck in Sydney.
It turns-out that the world’s most expensive Gold Sovereign is very rare and is one of the rarest circulated Gold Sovereign coins known. There are two leading theories as to why the 1920 Sydney Mint Sovereign is so rare. The first theory suggests that from an initial mintage of 360,000 coins only a few survived due to the mass smelting of Sovereigns at the time whilst the other theory claims that the coins were struck spcifically for an Australian family
It is widely believed that the vast majority of this mintage, along with many other sovereigns, was melted down in the 1920s or 1930s following World War I. This makes the few survivors coins that managed to stay in Australia which caused them to avoid the smelting that was going on in London and the US at the time. Many believe the 1920 mintage was melted down with 105 million other Sovereigns in the late 1920s and early 1930s in the US and England
Fluctuations of the Gold price following World War I also played a part in the 1920 Sovereign’s rarity. The rise of the price of Gold made the minting of gold coins increasingly impractical. According to the Royal Mint’s report issued on 31 December 1920, the price of gold on 5 February 1920 was quoted at 127 shillings and 4 pence per troy ounce. This meant that the cost of minting a single Gold Sovereign, with a face value of just 20 shillings exceeded 30 shillings. Consequently, the Royal Mint’s London branch suspended sovereign production in 1917, with minting not resuming until 1925. Foreign branches soon followed as the Canadian Mint halted sovereign production two years later in 1919
Researcher Barrie Winsor of Australia has identified the family responsible for placing a special order for 1920-dated sovereigns at the Sydney Mint. The order was made by Jacob Garrard, a prominent New South Wales politician and trade unionist. Mr Garrard purchased these sovereigns as gifts for his children to commemorate his and his wife Rebecca’s golden wedding anniversary on 15 April 1920
To verify this, the researcher interviewed several of Garrard’s descendants and examined photographs taken during the anniversary celebration. The gifts were intended for Garrard’s five sons and two daughters, though the exact number of sovereigns minted for the family remains uncertain. It is also unclear if each child received a coin, as only two sons and both daughters survived Jacob Garrard when he passed away on 5 November 1931. The total mintage likely did not exceed seven sovereigns, or possibly nine if Jacob and Rebecca retained one each
Recent research by Howard Hodgson supports the long-held belief that the mass melting of Sovereigns after World War I did indeed occur. Hodgson concluded that Jacob Garrard likely acquired a small supply of 1920-S sovereigns, and this supply probably accounts for most, if not all, of the known surviving specimens
Notably, Hodgson also discovered that Garrard’s descendants possess two previously unrecorded 1920-S sovereigns. With five examples already known, this brings the total to seven, though it’s possible that more undiscovered examples remain in the hands of other Garrard descendants. Despite these new findings, the 1920-S sovereign continues to be the rarest circulated Gold Sovereign coin.
Of the most recent records for the 1920-S Gold Sovereigns, 7 examples are known:
One held at the Royal Australian Mint Collection in Canberra
One held within the Rothschild Collection
Private Hands – achieved AUD$1,193,200 (SP-66 is the only “proof-like” example known)
Private Hands
Private Hands
Garrard Family
Garrard Family
As only three of the 1920-S Sovereigns are known to be in private hands, a sale of this extremely rare type only occurs once every several years. Here are the most recent sales of the world’s most expnsive Gold Sovereign coin:
A MS63 example surfaced in a US auction in August 2024 and achieved a price of $552,000
A MS64+ example surfaced in a US auction in May 2022 and achieved the same price of $552,000
Auronum is an autherised supplier of Gold Sovereign coins and benchmarks our selling prices against other top-tier bullion companies to ensure that our clients never pay more
