{{Short description|English gold coin}} {{About|the Tudor period coin|the contemporary British coin|Sovereign (British coin)}} {{Css Image Crop|Image = England (Great Britain) Sovereign of Elizabeth I.jpg|bSize = 440|cWidth = 220|cHeight = 225|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0|Location = right|Description = {{center|Sovereign of Elizabeth I (1583–1600), from the collection of the [[National Museum of American History]], [[Washington, D.C.]]}}}}
The '''sovereign''' was a [[gold coin]] of the [[Kingdom of England]] first issued in 1489 under [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]]. The coin had a [[money of account|nominal value]] of one [[pound sterling]], or twenty [[Shilling (English coin)|shilling]]s. The sovereign was primarily an official [[bullion coin|piece of bullion]] and had no mark of value on its face. Nonetheless, it was the country's first coin to be valued at one pound.{{sfn|Clancy|2017|p=13}}
The name derives from the large size and majestic portrait of the monarch (the "sovereign"), with the obverse of the first sovereigns showing the king's full face, sitting on a throne, while the reverse shows the [[Royal Arms of England]] and a [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] [[double rose]].
The first sovereigns were of 23-[[carat (purity)|carat]] (95.83%) gold and weighed 240 [[grain (measure)|grains]], or half a [[Troy weight|troy ounce]]. [[King Henry VIII]] lessened the gold content to 22 carats, or 91.67%. Although this was part of what is called [[The Great Debasement]], 22 carats became the gold coin standard in both the British Isles and later the United States, known as [[crown gold]].
It had a diameter of {{convert|42|mm}}, and weighed 15.55 grams (0.500 oz t), twice the weight of the existing gold coin, the [[spur ryal|ryal]]. The new coin was struck in response to a large influx of gold into Europe from West Africa in the 1480s, and Henry at first called it the double ryal, but soon changed the name to sovereign.{{sfn|Celtel|Gullbekk|2006|p=61}} Too great in value to have any practical use in circulation, the original sovereign probably served as a presentation piece to be given to dignitaries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tudor sovereign|publisher=The Royal Mint Museum|url=https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/journal/curators-corner/tudor-sovereign/|accessdate=17 Feb 2021}}</ref><ref group=Note>One pound in 1489 was equivalent to 33 days wages for a tradesman. See [https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/ historical currency converter]</ref> A [[double sovereign]] in the form of a [[piedfort]] was occasionally created for such purposes too.<ref>[https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/piedforts Royal Mint] Piedforts</ref>
The inscription reads <small>A DNO' FACTU' EST ISTUD ET EST MIRAB' IN OCULIS NRS</small>—abbreviation for <small>''A DOMINO FACTUM EST ISTUD ET EST MIRABILE IN OCULIS NOSTRIS''</small> (Latin for "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes", from [[Psalm 118]]).
==Replacement== [[James VI and I|King James I]], when he came to the English throne in 1603, issued a sovereign in the year of his accession,{{sfn|Marsh|2017|pp=3–4}} but the following year, soon after he proclaimed himself King of Great Britain, he issued a proclamation for a new twenty-shilling piece called the [[unite (English coin)|unite]], symbolising that James had merged the Scottish and English crowns.{{sfn|Clancy|2017|p=41}}
The unite, and then the other short-lived [[Laurel (English coin)|laurel]] and [[Broad (English gold coin)|broad]], therefore took the sovereign's place in the 17th century, before the [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]] became established. However, the guinea changed value to 21 shillings in 1717. It was not until 1817 that the 20 shilling (one pound sterling) coin was re-introduced – again named the [[Sovereign (British coin)|sovereign]], now a British coin, which continues to be issued to the present day.
==See also== * [[Half sovereign]] – the gold coin equivalent to half an English (and later, British) sovereign {{Portal bar|Money|England|Numismatics}}
== Explanatory notes == {{Reflist|group=Note}}
== Citations == {{Reflist}}
== General and cited references == * {{cite book | last1 = Celtel | first1 = André | last2 = Gullbekk | first2= Svein H. | title = The Sovereign and Its Golden Antecedents | year = 2006 | publisher = Monetarius | isbn = 978-82-996755-6-7 | location = Oslo, Norway }} * {{cite book |last=Clancy|first=Kevin|author-link=Kevin Clancy (Royal Mint)|title=A History of the Sovereign: Chief Coin of the World|publisher=Royal Mint Museum|location=Llantrisant, Wales|edition=Second|year=2017|orig-year=2015|isbn=978-1-869917-00-5 }} * {{cite book |first=Michael A.|last=Marsh|title=The Gold Sovereign|publisher=Token Publishing |year=2017|edition=Revised|location=Exeter, Devon, UK |orig-year=1980|isbn=978-1-908828-36-1}}
==External links== {{Commons|Sovereign (British coin)}} * [http://www.gold-sovereign.net/ Sovereign coins]
{{Coins of England}}
[[Category:1489 establishments in England]] [[Category:English gold coins]]