Queen Victoria Young Head Gold Sovereign | 1838-1887

The 1838-1887 Gold Young Head Victoria Full Sovereign

Full gold Sovereigns were struck for Queen Victoria from 1838 to 1901 and instantly became a treasured asset. The British Young Head Victoria Gold Sovereign is considered one of most attractive and certainly the most collectible Sovereign on the market today. Much more than a trustworthy and solid investment, it is at the same time a superbly designed coin. Most importantly, an 1838-1887 Young Head Victoria is also a means to travel back to the glorious times of the Victorian era. Just by holding one such gold Sovereign you magically go back almost 150 years, to the celebrated days of the British Empire.

Why buy Young Head Victoria Gold Full Sovereigns?

1871-1887 Young Head Victoria Sovereigns were printed by the Royal Mint and its Australian branches, thus their quality is 100% guaranteed. They are the ideal option for your investment portfolio as most issues are available in abundance and sell for a small premium. When it comes to selling, you should at least get spot price regardless of their condition. Rare issues fetch extremely high prices, even though these were regular circulating coins, and as a result, most of them have marks or dents. There are collectors, however, who are charmed exactly by this feature. Young Head Victoria Sovereigns are of the highest numismatic value and historical significance, and should be a precious showpiece in every collection.

Design of the Victoria Young Head Full Sovereign

The Young Head Victoria Gold Full Sovereign is made of 7.98g of .917 purity gold, it is 22.05 mm in diameter and 1.56 mm thick. There are two types of Young Head Victoria coins. On the obverse, both types bear the left-facing head of the Queen not wearing her crown. The attractive and well balanced portrait is now commonly referred to as the "Young Head" type or the "bun" head. Sir William Wyon, the Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint at Tower Hill, prepared a wax model based in a sketch of the Queen drawn when she first posed for him as a young Princess in 1831 and engraved the obverse punches and dies. In the shield reverse type, the portrait bears the year of issue and is circumscribed with Latin legend "VICTORIA DEI GRATIA". In the St George and Dragon type the mintmark appears under the head and we find the Latin inscription "VICTORIA D:G: BRITANNIAR REG: FID:DEF:" (Victoria by the Grace of God King of the Britons, Defender of the Faith.)
The shield reverse features a crowned garnished shield of arms with a small rosette on either side, designed by Jean Baptiste Merlen, and inscribed with the legend "BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID:DEF". The mintmarks are to be found below the wreath but above the rose.
On the reverse we find Benedetto Pistrucci's emblematic design of St George killing the Dragon. The date of issue is inscribed at the bottom.

History of the Sovereign Coins

It was initially the Queen's idea to start producing Sovereigns at source rather than gold from the colonies shipped to London. Australia's Sydney branch of the Royal Mint issued its first Gold Young Head Victoria Full Sovereign on June 23, 1855 and featured a uniquely Australian reverse design. High quality 1855 Sovereigns are rarely seen on the open market today.

This touch of colonial pride went unnoticed for a number of years, but in 1871, approval for the Sydney Mint design was revoked by Victoria, and Australian Young Head Sovereigns returned to British tradition. That same year the Royal Mint established its second Australian branch in Melbourne significantly increasing the production of Sovereigns.

Security of the Sovereign Coins

The Royal Mint was well aware of the Sovereign fraud issue which was widespread and threatened the credibility of the most important asset for British international trade. Young Head Victoria Sovereign coins were minted to precise specifications, while counterfeiters of the time produced fakes made of cheap metals and of poor design quality. Today, such coins cannot convince even a novice collector. What is dangerous in this case is "numismatic" fraud. This is when forgers buy a cheap genuine Sovereign that has the same design with a rare one, and try to change the year of issue. For example the 1879 London Mint, Young Head, St George reverse Gold Sovereign cost hundreds of pounds more than a similar coin of a different year. Even though forgers usually change one digit, this rarely passes unnoticed after an expert's scrupulous inspection.

Buying and Selling 1838-1887 Young Head Victoria Gold Sovereigns

As leading distributors of gold bullion coins, StoneX Bullion offers highly competitive rates on 1838-1887 Young Head Victoria Gold Full Sovereigns, and as demand is high and available coins are extremely limited we urge you to order the soonest possible. Simply sign into your StoneX Bullion GmbH account, and add the items you'd like to purchase to your basket by clicking on the orange strip in the volume pricing section. If we have the coin in stock, we will process your order immediately, but you should allow at least 10 working days for delivery, as some bank transfers do not reach us for up to 7 days depending on your bank and country of residence.

If you have any Young Head Victoria Gold Sovereigns for sale, do come in contact with a friendly member of our staff who will be happy to arrange a price for you and prepare a fixed, limited fee offer; we will promptly send you confirmation of the offer by email.