1 Sovereign - George V (1911–1925)

One row for each year the 1 Sovereign - George V was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1911 1 Sovereign - George V

The 1911 1 Sovereign - George V is a circulating 1 sovereign coin issued from 1911 to 1925 in the Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 7.99g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: St George riding horse, facing right, wearing helmet and cape, holding sword in right hand, slaying dragon below, date and.

Mintage figures are recorded for 8 years between 1911 and 1925, 123,672,999 coins in all. 1917 is the scarcest date, with 1,014,999 struck.

Common questions

History and design

George V's sovereign was the last British gold coin made for everyday use. A proclamation of 28 November 1910, in force from 1 January 1911, set out the designs. The Royal Mint Museum records that branch mints supplied a little under half of the gold coin circulating in 1914, and Coin Hunter and goldsovereigns.co.uk agree that London struck 30,044,105 sovereigns in 1911 and 30,317,921 in 1912.

The First World War ended that. Within days of its outbreak, Treasury notes for ten shillings and one pound replaced gold, and by mid-1915 sovereigns were rarely seen in London. London striking fell to 1,554,120 in 1916 and 1,014,714 in 1917, then stopped. The Mint struck 1925 sovereigns when Britain returned to the gold standard, recoining lightweight pieces from the Bank of England for its vaults. The Museum adds that 90 million sovereigns were melted into bars in 1930 and 1931.

The obverse is the bare head of George V facing left by the Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal, signed BM. The Royal Mint Museum says the Mint turned to him for the portrait. The proclamation gives the inscription GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT: OMN: REX F.D. IND: IMP: (George V, by the Grace of God King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India).

The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George on horseback, attacking the dragon with a sword, with a broken spear on the ground and the date below. The edge is milled. Branch mint coins add a small letter above the date.

Varieties and errors

The 1925 date was struck again after the Second World War, with George V's portrait and the old date. Wikipedia gives 1949, 1951 and 1952; goldsovereigns.co.uk gives 1949, 1950 and 1951 and 886,000 coins, and says the restrikes have a higher rim. No recognised mint errors are documented.

Collecting notes

The 1917 London coin is the date to watch. The Royal Mint Museum says many went to the United States in payment for war supplies and were melted, and Tony Clayton notes the issue was mainly melted down. The 1916 is the next lowest London date.

Check for a mint mark before calling a coin a London strike. Sovereigns were struck somewhere in the Commonwealth every year from 1911 to 1932, with Pretoria's 1932 coins the last made as currency. The 1918 Bombay sovereign has its own page. The sovereign remains legal tender but is used only as gold.