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Gold Sovereigns

2000 Royal Mint

22 Carat Gold

In 1997 the winner of the Royal Mints competition to design a new effigy was announced, it was sculptor and medallist Ian Rank-Broadley. His new effigy graced the collector proof versions from 1998, and in 2000 The Royal Mint resumed production of bullion gold sovereigns, the first since 1982, but with much lower mintages as they are aimed at the collector market rather than to be used strictly as bullion.

Mintage
139,961

The fifth portrait depicts a older bust of the Queen facing right and wearing a tiara, with the letters IRB below the trunctuation. Along with the introduction of the bullion sovereign came a vast reduction in mintage limits with the issue limit set at 250,000 for 2000 but lowered to 100,000 in subsequent years. First introduced in 1917, the George and Dragon reverse design is virtually unchanged since the Garter was removed on the sovereign of 1821.
Since The Queen’s crowning in 1953 there have been four effigies of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Previous effigies have been designed by Mary Gillick (1953), Arnold Machin (1974), Raphael Maklouf (1985) and most recently, existing portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley (1998)
The dragon has still not been slain.

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:	Ian Rank-Broadley

Chard Gold Sovereigns	The Royal Mint.
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