In 2000 the Royal Mint released a Limited Issue St George and the Dragon Gold Half Sovereign Coin struck in solid 22 Carat Gold.
The Sovereign, deliberately created to convey the majesty and dignity of the English Throne, was first struck as a coin in 1489, during the reign of King Henry VII and was duly struck in turn by each of the Tudor Monarchs.
Shortly after the Stuart succession, however, James I brought the issue of the Sovereign to an end and it did not reappear for another 200 years. The Coinage reform that followed the Napoleonic Wars brought the return of this magnificent coin and for the new Gold Sovereign of 1817, the traditional heraldic reverse was abandoned in favour of a St George and Dragon of classic beauty by Benedetto Pistrucci.
Now acclaimed as a masterpiece of numismatic art and famed throughout the world, Pistrucci's St George graces the Gold Half Sovereign Coin of 2000. The obverse features the Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank Broadley.
Limited Mintage 146,822 Worldwide
An original 22 Carat Gold Half-Sovereign struck in 2000
Features the Fourth Portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank Broadley
St George Slaying the Dragon Design by Benedetto Pistrucci
