Sovereign Weight

[thanasis]

Hello forum,

As the title suggests, I was wondering about the weight of the gold sovereign. From what I have read, the weight limit for a sovereign to be considered underweight is 7.93787g, which is more commonly rounded up to 7.94g. Therefore, keeping in mind the correct weight of the sovereign which is 7.988g, that makes a 0.6% difference. So, my questions are these:

1. At what point can we 'safely' pick a sovereign based on its weight?

2. Do you have a sovereign that is underweight in your collection?

3. Do some sovereigns, for example William IV or George III ones keep their premium despite being underweight?

4. At what point does the level of wear indicate a significant loss in weight?

5. Also, concerning other types of gold coins, does the % difference differ, or is the same 0.6% as the sovereign? For example if I wanna buy a French 20 Francs gold coin (6.45161g and 90% fineness), does the same percentage apply?

Sorry if you find these questions too many. Take your time and enjoy this beautiful George V gold Proof £5 sovereign! 😊

 

                           

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by thanasis

[Pete]

I just checked my inventory of Victorian sovereigns and the range is 7.94 to 8.0 g with an average 7.98 g and they all show some degree of wear.
I think an underweight coin would look very worn and personally I wouldn't want to buy.
Also I have seen other gold coins where someone has clipped a bit off the rim or filed an edge possibly to verify gold using acid tests.
That would perhaps place a coin "underweight".