1 Sovereign - Elizabeth and the Lion

Gibraltar sovereigns occupy a legal oddity: the territory issues coins under Royal Mint-style specifications that are fully interchangeable in weight and fineness with British sovereigns, yet Gibraltar has no independent monetary authority recognized by the Bank of England. The arrangement persists because Gibraltar's coins are legal tender locally under Gibraltar law, not UK law — a distinction that has never been tested in any court of consequence.

The 2021 date places this issue in the final year before the post-Brexit Gibraltar-EU border negotiations concluded, a period of unusual political friction surrounding the territory's status.