Sovereign Victoria Young Head

Sovereign Victoria Young Head Gold Coin

The Sovereign Victoria Young Head coin represents part of arguably the world’s best-known coin and the Royal Mint’s flagship issue, the Sovereign, with a history dating back to 1489.

All our pre-owned coins undergo strict quality checks by our team of experts to ensure their condition is excellent. Coins will be carefully packed loose, but If you’d like to further protect your coins, we offer Sovereign coin capsules

The obverse features the first portrait of Wuenn Victoria, while the reverse displays the classic St.George and Dragon design by Benedetto Pistucci.

The coins will date between 1871-1887.

The picture illustrates the type of coin you’ll receive, not the exact item.

History

Queen Victoria’s achievements as monarch are known the world over. Before being usurped in 2010 by Elizabeth II, Victoria was the longest-reigning UK monarch and was also the figurehead of the British Empire at the height of its global reach. Known as the Victorian era, the duration of her reign is remembered for huge technological scientific and political advancement, including such accomplishments as building the London underground system.

The Victoria Young Head Sovereign reflects the period at the beginning of her reign, which experienced various ups and downs like The Great Famine (1845), rebuilding relations with France, and self-imposed isolation after the death of her husband in 1861.

Design & Mintage

Unlike the Sovereigns of today, the Sovereign Victoria Young Head was struck in coin alignment, which basically means the reverse is upside down to the head. This changed in later Sovereigns to what’s known as medal alignment, which refers to the front and back being minted the same way up. This stems from the medals commonly being displayed within a swivel mechanism.

The obverse portrait of Victoria represents a youthful look for the Queen with hair tied up in a bun, and also reflects the young, evolving feeling of the era. While the reverse most commonly features St.George slaying the dragon, most dates were also issued with shield back design, which is rarer and trade higher.

Mint Marks

Mint marks for these early Victoria coins are limited to London, Sydney and Melbourne, as the imperial spread had only just begun. Later Sovereigns were minted in a wider number of places, reflecting the growing British Empire. Mintage quantities varied from a low of around 1.5 million in 1887, reaching a peak in 1872 of more than 16 million.

Our Expert Opinion

We absolutely love this coin. It’s the oldest of all the coins we focus on being more than 130 years of age. Anything older becomes numismatic, but this is the first coin we’d consider semi-numismatic. In other words, its value consists of both its gold content and a historical or collectors coin value. Premiums on older numismatic coins will be far higher due to rarity and more sophisticated knowledge of historical coins is advised before venturing into buying coins of 150 years or more.

Balance

While not always available on the market due to their age and desirability, the coin is plentiful enough to be in stock more often than not. As the oldest coin we offer, premiums are higher than any other Sovereign coin. For that reason, we’d recommend crafting a mixed portfolio of older and newer coins, including the Georges, Edwards and Elizabeths to create a balanced holding. If holding a piece of history in your hand is appealing than this coin is unbeatable, and doesn’t compromise in other investment areas such as liquidity and tax efficiency.

If you fancy owning old tax-free gold coins which celebrate the Victorian era but want to pay less, then the other Victoria Head Sovereigns, the Jubilee Head and Old Head, may be an option.

If you ever see these coins on sale, snap them up. Because of their history and fluctuating availability, their premium can rise quicker than newer coins, turbo-charging returns.