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Gold Sovereigns

1917 Ottawa Mint Gold Sovereign

22 Carat Gold

King George V saw his role as monarch as being to embody those qualities his far-flung subjects saw as their greatest strengths - diligence, dignity & duty. King George V was the only monarch whose effigy appeared on sovereigns from all seven mints. George reigned during the height of the Royal Mint's reach, but the tumultuous events of World War I, the collapse of the international monetary system and the demise of the gold standard meant that he would be the last King to grace the sovereign .

Mintage
58,875

The Canadian Mint at Ottawa only struck gold sovereigns for ten years between 1908 and 1919. All of these are scarce, some rare, and two of the dates are extremely rare. The Ottawa mint was set up to coin the gold, which had only recently been discovered in British Columbia and in the Klondike, into gold sovereigns. It opened on January 2nd 1908, and this was the first date of British gold sovereign to be minted in Canada, although it is one of the two extremely rare dates. Naturally the mint produced other coins in silver and base metal, the first coin struck at the Canadian Mint was a fifty cent piece. The mint still operates today, and is known as The Royal Canadian Mint. It was made a Crown Corporation on April 1st 1969 .

There is much variation in the depth to which this portrait is struck. The points to examine when grading this obverse are:

The peaks of the eyebrow and upper cheek;
The fine detail in his moustache;
The broad area of hair above the ear & towards the fringe;
The neck muscle between his ear and the base of his neck.
Weakness will show in a lack of definition of the hair including beard and moustache;
The top of the ear which would show a lack of sharpness on a weak strike;
As always, the rims and fields;

Specifications

Sources

Composition:	91.67% Gold 8.33% Copper
Gold Content:	0.2354 oz
Edge:	Reeded
Weight:	7.9881 grams
Size:	21.5 mm
Reverse:	Benedetto Pistrucci
Obverse:	Edgar Bertram Mackennal

Chard Gold Sovereigns	Andrew Crellin of Sterling & Currency.
The Sovereign Daniel Fearon & Brian Reeds 2001 Hilden Publications 17 Windmill Drive Croxley Green, Hertfordshire United Kingdom Token Publishing	The Gold Sovereign Golden Jubilee Edition Michael A Marsh 2002 25A St Neots Rd Hardwick Cambrigeshire CB3 7QH United Kingdom