Today sees the release of the biggest annual British Sovereign coin, the Five Sovereign. The same size and weight as a typical £5 gold coin from the Royal Mint, it weighs 39.94 grams of 22kt 0.9167 gold (36.6 grams fine), so quite a bit more than the usual one troy ounce (31.1g). The design is pretty much a straight copy of all the other sizes, indeed of most Sovereigns struck over the many decades since its inception. Benedetto Pistrucci’s now completely iconic image of St George slaying the dragon is a superb piece of numismatic art, although quite ubiquitous by now.

What makes this one a little different from the norm and more collectible as a result, is the addition of George III’s Royal Cypher, which you can see as a small privy mark at bottom right of the reverse face (the obverse is just the usual effigy of QEII). The cypher is a combination of ‘G’ and ‘R’, basically George Rex (King George). Only 350 of these are being sold like this, and the packaging is the usual glossy wooden box that the mint does so well. Available now, we’d expect this to sell quickly given the current popularity of Royal Mint gold in general. Price is £2,450.00 UKP.