Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign

Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign coin

The Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign forms part of arguably the world’s best-known coin issue, the Sovereign, which has 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 Victoria Jubilee Head Gold Sovereign, while the reverse displays the classic St.George and Dragon design by Benedetto Pistucci. The redesign was created to celebrate the Queen’s jubilee year. The truth is that the jubilee portrait was long over-due after 17 years of the Victoria Young Head.

The coins will date between 1887-1893. They were then updated to the final Victoria portrait version, the Old (or veiled) head to reflect the monarch’s ageing features more accurately.

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

Mintage

Due to the relatively short run of the jubilee head (7 years) compared to the previous portrait’s 17 years, it’s total mintage was far lower and therefore less are in circulation. Despite it being a newer coin than the Young Head, you could argue it’s slightly rarer due to the lower circulation number. Like it’s predecessor, coins can contain mintmarks from London, Melbourne or Sydney. The Old Head which came next added Perth to this list, and the ‘King Sovereigns’ of George and Edward added other commonwealth countries to its list of mints such as Canada (Edward), and eventually, India and South Africa (George V Sovereigns), reflecting the growing British Empire.

First medal alignment Sovereign

The Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign was minted in what’s called ‘medal alignment’ and marked a theme that still continues with today’s modern Sovereign coins. This simply means that the portrait and tail side are both the same way up. This sounds obvious and unremarkable, but it replaced the previous method which adorned a majority of Victoria Young Head coins which featured ‘coin alignment’. This version minted the reverse at 180 degrees to the obverse, in other words, upside down. The medal alignment is in fact based on the common practice of wearing medals on a vertically pivoting clasp mechanism. In order to see both sides of a medal, military personnel simply swivelled the coin on this vertical axis and the reverse would be viewed as the intended way up.

Jubilee celebrations

The Victoria Jubilee Head Sovereign re-design marked Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee (50 years since taking the throne on 20 June 1837). Celebrations included a lavish banquet with a long list of illustrious guests including 50 kings and princes and the British heads of the various growing global colonies. It was followed the next day by Victoria taking to the streets for a procession in an open carriage, known as a landau.

Our Expert Opinion

Considering its huge historical value and significance and relatively low mintage, the Jubilee Head tends to trade far cheaper than the previous Young Head coin and on par with the newer Old Head Victoria Sovereign. For this reason, we consider this coin remarkable value. We think it could be one whose premium rises faster than others in the future, making it an essential part of a mixed portfolio. Team it with other Victoria coins to own the ‘Victoria set’, or perhaps with Half Sovereigns and some Britannias to achieve a mix of value. diversity and upside potential. If you’re able to buy the version with the shield back without paying a huge premium, then this could have a particular appeal and rise in value quickly.