This Sovereign was struck in the year in which the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed, the Currency and Banknotes Act was passed, leading to the first ever ten-shilling note, and the Representation of the People Act was expanded to give all women over the age of 21, regardless of property ownership, the ability to vote.

During the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, The Royal Mint established branch mints across the world near new sources of gold discoveries, rather than shipping the heavy metal to London. Three of these branch mints opened in Australia.

This Sovereign was struck at the Perth branch of The Royal Mint, denoted by a distinctive P mint mark. The mint in Perth was the last of the three Australian branches of The Royal Mint to open in 1899, following the successful establishment of branch mints in Sydney and Melbourne.

This ‘Extremely Fine’ Sovereign features a portrait of King George V on the coin’s obverse, created by Bertram Mackennal – a highly regarded Australian artist and a favourite of the king – and Benedetto Pistrucci’s iconic St George and the dragon design on the reverse.

1,333,417 Sovereigns were produced at the Perth branch mint in this year.