The sovereign of 1817
1817 ・ gold ・ 19th century ・ Royal Mint, London
Britain made gold the sole standard in law by the coinage act of 1816, and the following year sent out this gold coin of twenty shillings, one pound: the sovereign. The back carries Pistrucci's St George slaying the dragon — for the two hundred years since, the face of the sovereign and the most celebrated image in the history of British money. In time it was struck at branch mints from Sydney to Pretoria, and travelled the empire and the world with only the mint mark changed. The first year's form of the gold coin on which the sun never set.