New, one year design!
The Royal Mint hat geschrieben:The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is a rare and significant historic occasion. So it’s fitting that Her Majesty The Queen has approved a new reverse design for the 2012 Sovereign.
Each Sovereign has been minted to the exact weight and diameter of the first modern Sovereign of 1817. It is housed in a deluxe presentation case and comes with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity, guaranteeing the coin’s weight, diameter, gold content and limited edition presentation of just 5,500*.
The gold Sovereign is without doubt one of Britain’s most famous coins: a coin so rich in history, it’s considered by many as the flagship coin of the Royal Mint, and synonymous with Britain herself. The traditional St George and dragon design by Benedetto Pistrucci is replaced only on special occasions. The Queen’s historic Diamond Jubilee is such an event, so the 2012 Sovereign features a brand new design for one year only. The Royal Mint ran a limited competition, inviting five artists to create a fresh interpretation of St George and the dragon.
The winner was British sculptor Paul Day, whose first design for the Royal Mint shows a ferocious dragon being despatched by a knight in Gothic armour. Paul explains, ‘I have always been attracted to detail which requires a closer look to be unpicked and fully understood. I have deliberately left very little empty space. This is to make the reverse as engaging as possible and in complete contrast to the obverse.’
The obverse of the new coin will feature the acclaimed portrait of The Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS that has graced UK coins since 1998.