1 Sovereign - William IV (1831–1837)

One row for each year the 1 Sovereign - William IV 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 1831 1 Sovereign - William IV

The 1831 1 Sovereign - William IV is a circulating 1 sovereign coin issued from 1831 to 1837 in the Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 7.99g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: Crowned shield of arms and mantle, legend and date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 6 years between 1831 and 1837, 9,171,000 coins in all. 1831 is the scarcest date, with 599,000 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1891), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

William IV succeeded his brother George IV in June 1830. Wikipedia records that William Wyon had obtained a sketch of the king from the sculptor Francis Chantrey in April 1830, before George died, and that the king liked the resulting portrait so much that he ordered no other be used on his coins. An order in council of 22 November 1830 authorised the new coinage, and it was made current by proclamation of 13 April 1831.

Coin Hunter gives 598,547 sovereigns for 1831, the smallest of the six dated issues, rising to 3,737,065 in 1832, the largest. The other dates are 1833 (1,225,269), 1835 (723,441), 1836 (1,714,349) and 1837 (1,172,984), about 9.17 million in all. No sovereigns are dated 1834. All gold coins from before Victoria's reign were called in by proclamation of 22 November 1890 and demonetised from 28 February 1891.

The obverse is the bare head of the king facing right, engraved by Wyon after Chantrey's bust, with the initials WW on the truncation and the legend GULIELMUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: (William IV, by the grace of God King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith). The Royal Mint Museum says Wyon's coinage portraits of George IV and William IV were not entirely his own work, being based on Chantrey's busts.

Jean Baptiste Merlen's reverse shows the royal arms on a crowned, garnished shield, with a smaller crowned shield of Hanover in the centre, since William was also King of Hanover. The only reverse inscription is ANNO and the date below. Leaving out the Latin titles that ringed earlier sovereign reverses gave Merlen room for the ornate scrollwork around the shield.

Varieties and errors

Two slightly different heads were used. Wikipedia, citing Marsh, says the first bust appears on most 1831 currency coins and some of 1832, and the second bust on the pattern coins, the 1831 proofs, some 1832 coins and every date from 1833. Chard's list agrees, giving both busts for 1831 and 1832 and the second only thereafter.

Clayton records a rare variety of 1836 with an N struck on the shield, and says the reason remains a mystery. Coin Hunter describes it as the N of ANNO struck on the shield.

Collecting notes

For 1831 and 1832, check which bust the coin carries before anything else. On an 1836 coin, look at the shield for the stray N. Proofs of 1831, made for the proof sets, have a plain edge, which separates them from currency strikes. The type sits between the George IV shield sovereign and Victoria's Young Head shield sovereign, which dropped the Hanoverian arms.