Double sovereign

The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom with a nominal value of two pounds sterling (£2). Rarely issued in the first 150 years after its debut in 1820, it never had a significant presence in circulation. It became a collector and bullion coin, and has been struck most years since 1980. It features the reigning monarch on its obverse and, most often, Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse.

The double sovereign was first minted in 1820 and depicted George III, but this issue never entered circulation, instead being considered a pattern coin. In the following century and a half, it was most often issued to mark the beginning of a new reign, or the institution of a new coinage portrait of the reigning monarch. These were mostly proof coins; the denomination was issued for circulation in only four years. Few examples that are worn from commercial use can be found.

Since 1980, the double sovereign has been sold as a collector's coin by the Royal Mint. In some years it was not issued, and the Royal Mint instead placed gold versions of the commemorative £2 piece in the gold proof sets.

After the Napoleonic Wars, Parliament, by the Coinage Act 1816, placed Britain officially on the gold standard, with the pound to be defined as a given quantity of gold. Almost every speaker in the parliamentary debates supported having a coin valued at twenty shillings, rather than continuing to use the guinea, valued at twenty-one shillings. Nevertheless, the Coinage Act did not specify which coins the Mint should strike.

A committee of the Privy Council recommended gold coins of ten shillings, twenty shillings, two pounds and five pounds be issued, and this was accepted by George, Prince Regent on 3 August 1816. The twenty-shilling (one pound) piece was named a sovereign, with the resurrection of the old name possibly promoted by antiquarians with numismatic interests. The sovereign and half sovereign were both first issued in 1817, but there was initially no striking of the two larger coins. Since 1754, there had been no issuance of coins more valuable than a guinea intended for general circulation; the need for higher value tender had been met by banknotes. The Saint George and the Dragon design was suggested as an appropriate motif for the sovereign by its creator, Benedetto Pistrucci, based on a cameo he had carved. Sir Joseph Banks also recommended to William Wellesley-Pole, the Master of the Mint, that Pistrucci's design be adapted for use on the coinage.

In December 1819, possibly because of the decline in the health of King George III (r. 1760–1820), Wellesley-Pole instructed Pistrucci, who was then acting as chief engraver of the Royal Mint, to prepare dies for the double sovereign (two pounds) and the five-pound piece. Nineteenth-century numismatic writer Edward Hawkings portrayed this as a race against time to complete the dies before George died, which he related was won by the Royal Mint's craftsmen; later researchers have found the king died before the new coins were ready. The double sovereign, designed by Pistrucci, depicts the right-facing bust of the king with the legend GEORGIUS III D G BRITANNIAR REX F D (George III by the Grace of God King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith) and the date, while the reverse shows Pistrucci's George and Dragon design with no legend or date. This design had first appeared on the sovereign in 1817, surrounded by a Garter. The reverse design has Pistrucci's initials at the lower right, whilst lettering on the edge states DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI LX (An ornament and a safeguard; in the sixtieth year of the reign). A total of 60 pieces are reported to have been struck.

In 1823, Pistrucci's reverse was used again on the double sovereign, joined with an obverse bust of the new king, George IV (r. 1820–1830) by Jean Baptiste Merlen based on a bust by Sir Francis Chantrey; believing he should not be called upon to adapt the work of another artist, Pistrucci had refused to convert Chantrey's bust to a coin. The double sovereign had the same inscription around the monarch's head as in 1820 except IIII was substituted for III, and the date was moved to the reverse. The 1823 issue had the same edge inscription as the 1820 piece, except the Roman numeral was IV (fourth [year of the reign]) for 1823 issues. Thus, the same number, 4, is rendered in two different ways as Roman numerals on the same coin.

The 1824, 1825 and 1826 proof coins feature a smaller head of the king, by William Wyon, with the legend GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA (George IV by the grace of God ...) and the date, while the reverse (by Merlen) shows a crowned shield within a mantle cape with the legend BRITANNIARUM REX FID DEF (King of the Britains, defender of the faith). The 1824 issue has the edge inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI QUINTO (An ornament and a safeguard; in the fifth year of the reign). The 1825 issue has no edge inscription, while the 1826 has the same as 1824, but the final word is changed to SEPTIMO (seventh). Of the four George IV issues, only the 1823 issue was for circulation, the others being struck in small numbers as proof coins, with the 1826 part of the proof set of that year.