News wire

The French gold twenty franc coins continue to be extremely popular with collectors, investors, and jewellers. The coin is smaller than a gold sovereign, but not particularly rare, making it an ideal coin to stack, collect, or wear as jewellery.

There are a variety of different designs, the most popular being the Marianne design, known colloquially as the Rooster, minted from 1899 to 1914. Restrikes of this design were struck in the 1950s dated 1907 to 1914.

We buy, sell, and trade these coins, both certified and uncertified, so if you’re looking to sell yours, contact us. If you’re looking to buy, explore our range.

Nominal specifications

While there are a lot of die varieties in the British Victorian shield series, there are fewer across the Australian shield sovereigns, and fewer still amongst the young head St George sovereigns.

A normal D:G.

In 2015, we encountered an interesting variety on the 1878 Melbourne sovereign, where the D of “Dei Gratia” in the legend of the obverse appears to have been struck over an inverted G. It’s a fairly obvious error, but few collectors are aware of it; indeed, until 2024, no publication, auction catalogue, website, or sales listing to my knowledge mentioned the coin. It wasn’t until the publication this year of Steve Hill’s Standard Catalogue to the Gold Sovereign that collector interest has been piqued.

A sovereign with an upside down G over D.

While the exact number of D over G error sovereigns is not known, Mr Hill has assigned the coin a rarity rating of R7, indicating that between 11 and 20 examples known. I have identified six unique pieces over the last nine years, grading between PCGS AU53 and MS62. Two of these were sourced out of the United Kingdom, and one out of Germany. Another example was listed, unidentified, by a Western Australian dealer; that coin promptly sold before I could acquire it. If you’re a keen collector of sovereign varieties and errors, the 1878M D over G sovereign is a required coin to the set, and with so few examples available to coin collectors, will pose a real challenge to even the most dedicated numismatist.

AGW stands for Actual Gold Weight, and refers to the actual weight of the pure gold in a gold coin. The measurement does not include the weight of the other metals alloyed with the gold.

In the descriptions on some of the gold coins on the site, the acronym “AGW” is used. AGW stands for Actual Gold Weight, and refers to the actual weight of the pure gold in a gold coin. The measurement does not include the weight of the other metals alloyed with the gold. AGW is measured in troy ounces, which is the standard unit of mass in the precious metals and investment industry for metals like gold and silver. A troy ounce is equal to 31.103 grams.

This half ounce gold coin has an AGW of 0.5000oz. If the gold price is $2,845, the scrap value of this coin is $1,422.50.

To calculate the value of the gold in a gold coin where you know the AGW, simply multiple the AGW by the price of an ounce of gold. For example, as of the 22nd June 2023, one ounce of gold is $2,845 Australian dollars or £1,513. The AGW of a sovereign is 0.2354oz. Therefore, the “scrap” value of a gold sovereign is $670 or £356. The AGW of a Krugerrand is 1oz, so its scrap value is $2,845 or £1,513.

This sovereign has an AGW of 0.2354oz. If the gold price is $2,845, the scrap value of this coin is $669.71.

As an aside, in coins that are not pure gold, like Krugerrands and sovereigns, the non-gold metals alloyed with the gold are given away for free, as their values are usually very low. For example, the silver in a Sydney Mint sovereign is worth about $0.70 (£0.37). The copper in a standard sovereign is worth even less.