1 Sovereign - Victoria 1st portrait St George (1871–1885)

One row for each year the 1 Sovereign - Victoria 1st portrait – St George 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 1871 1 Sovereign - Victoria – St George

The 1871 1 Sovereign - Victoria – St George is a circulating 1 sovereign coin issued from 1871 to 1885 in the Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 7.99g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: St George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 10 years between 1871 and 1885, 35,710,886 coins in all. 1879 is the scarcest date, with 20,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

Pistrucci's St George and the dragon had been off the sovereign since 1825. In 1871 the Deputy Master of the Mint, Charles Fremantle, brought it back as part of a drive to beautify the coinage; the Queen approved, and an Order in Council of 14 January 1871 authorised it. London struck shield and St George sovereigns side by side until 1874, and its figures for those years cover both: 8,767,250 in 1871 and 13,486,708 in 1872.

After 1874 London struck only St George sovereigns, and not every year. Output ranged from 3,650,080 in 1880 down to just 20,013 in 1879, the scarce date of the series. London's last Young Head sovereigns are dated 1885. Sydney and Melbourne, which had begun striking imperial-type sovereigns in 1871 and 1872, used the St George design alongside the shield until 1887, and by 1900 about forty per cent of the sovereigns in Britain had come from Australia.

The obverse keeps William Wyon's Young Head of the Queen, but the date moved off it to the reverse. Wyon's portrait had been approved in 1838 and stayed on the sovereign until 1887.

The reverse is Pistrucci's St George, armed and on horseback, attacking the dragon with a sword, having broken his spear earlier in the fight, with the date in the exergue. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Pistrucci produced the design entirely himself for the new sovereigns of 1817. The plume behind George's helmet, removed in 1821, is still absent on these coins; it was restored in 1887.

Varieties and errors

The 1880 over 70 overdate is known with and without Pistrucci's initials B.P., and Melbourne struck an 1872 over 1 overdate. Unlike the shield coins struck alongside them, London St George sovereigns of 1871 to 1874 carry no die numbers.

Collecting notes

Turn the coin over to find the mint: on this type the S or M of Sydney or Melbourne sits on the obverse below the Queen's head, not on the reverse. London coins have no mark. The London 1879 is the date to watch for, and the Young Head shield sovereign is the companion type for 1871 to 1874.