Gold Sovereign Series - New Designs for the Golden Jubilee
It is now official that the sovereign series of gold coins will have a shield design for the Golden Jubilee year 2002. This special design will only be used for the single year. The last time this occurred was in 1989, and this is only the second time in over a century. The actual design will probably not be unveiled until deliveries start after January 2nd 2002.
The 4 coin gold proof sovereign sets contain a £5, £2, sovereign, and half sovereign, and usually a Royal Mint medallion. They are housed in luxurious leather cases, with each coin secure within its own plastic capsule.

An Unfolding Story
As at Wednesday 15th August 2001, our sources in Atlanta Georgia told us that next year's - 2002 - sovereigns and half sovereigns will have a shield reverse. We believe that the £2 and £5 gold coins will also use this new design, but knowing the Royal Mint, anything could happen. We immediately asked the Royal Mint for further information, but none was officially available.
We now show a photograph of the new shield reverse design.

Shield Reverse
The shield reverse was last used for Queen Victoria from 1838 to 1887 inclusive. This was Victoria's golden jubilee year, and the design of the sovereigns was changed in that year. In fact for the date 1887. It is perhaps fitting, then, that the Royal Mint appear to have chosen not only to change the sovereign design for our own queen's golden jubilee, but also to revert back to the shield design, although of course the 2002 shield will be different from the Victorian shield design.

Issue Limits
For 2001, the issue limit was only 1,000. The issue limits for 2002 have been increased considerably to 2,500 because of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. Without doubt the Royal Mint will have plans to promote and advertise these sets widely. Even with the higher issue limits there is a very good chance that these will sell out, and possibly do so surprisingly early.

Specifications

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	AGW*	Description
Five Pounds	36.02	39.94	1.1771	Shield
Two Pounds	28.40	15.98	0.4708	Shield
Sovereign (Pound)	22.05	7.99	0.2354	Shield
Half Sovereign (Fifty Pence)	19.30	3.99	0.1177	Shield
Total		67.90	2.0011

Notes on Table
Weight = gross weight in grams.
*AGW = Actual intrinsic gold weight in troy ounces.

We can offer British gold 4 coin sets as follows:-

Prices & Availability
The prices quoted in the US $ column may be out of date due to currency fluctuations.

Date	From	Mintage	Issue £	Price £	Price $
2002	£5	3,000	£965	£2,145	$3,195

More Information
More information about British gold sets is available on our British Gold Sets Information page.

You may wish to use our order form.

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £8 per order, plus £1 per £1,000
EU Insured Post £10 per order, plus £1 per £1,000
USA Airmail $10,
Insured Shipping $20, plus $1 per $1,000
Canada Airmail $15,
Insured Shipping via Fedex $60, plus $1 per $1,000

2002 Golden Jubilee 13 Coin Gold Proof Set