Below is the 1918-i King George V gold sovereign coin ( mintmark i -see picture no 3):-
Incidentally, the gold sovereign came into existence in 1489 under King Henry VII. From 1816 to the present the design specifications of individual gold coin is constant namely 7.9881 grams of 917 fine (22 kt) gold, 22.05 mm. Diameter which makes these King George V sovereign coin among the world’s most popular gold coins. On the reverse of the coin, we have the beautiful classic reverse design by Benedetto Pistrucci features Saint George slaying a dragon.
Production at the UK Royal Mint stopped in 1917, although some were minted again in 1925. The branch mints continued to produce sovereigns, Ottawa in Canada until 1919, Bombay in India in 1918, Sydney Australia until 1926, Melbourne and Perth Australia until 1931, and Pretoria South Africa until 1932.
The design specification of the 1918-i India gold sovereign coin( similar to all other sovereign gold coin) is as follows:
- Obverse of the1918-I coin bears the King George V Bare Head
- Reverse is Pistrucci’s St George and the Dragon design
- Full gold Sovereign Coin
- Mintmark “I” Bombay Mint
- Weight: 7.98 Grams / Diameter: 22.05mm
- Metal: Solid 22 Carat Gold
A bit of history of the 1918-i gold sovereign coin:
During World War I, as a unique and temporary wartime measure, gold sovereigns were struck in India at the Bombay mint. Prior to this time and afterward, the Bombay mint only produced the gold blanks upon which sovereigns were struck at other British mints.
Featuring the distinctive “I” mint mark on the reverse, just below the horse’s hooves on the ground line and just above the date, these are the only British Gold Sovereigns struck in Britain’s largest and most important colony.
Although the striking took place between August 15, 1918 and April 22, 1919, all coins struck bear the 1918 date. A total of 1,295,000 coins were struck, but many have been melted when gold reached USD850 per oz which therefore make this coin an especially scarce issue.
Other 1918 Sovereigns
For those who are interested in other 1918 sovereign coins, appended below a snapshot of other mints which produced the coin ( with mintage)
| Mintmark |
Mint |
Mintage |
| C |
Ottawa, Canada |
106,570
|
| I |
Bombay, India |
1,294,372
|
| M |
Melbourne, Australia |
4,809,493
|
| P |
Perth, Australia |
3,812,884
|
| S |
Sydney, Australia |
3,716,000
|
|
Total |
13,739,319
|
As observed from the above table, the 1918 Canadian sovereign coin has the least mintage which makes it scarce amongst its peers.
Incidentally,all dates of sovereigns from the Ottawa Canada mint are scarcer than other mintmarks, but for some years they are rare or very rare.
