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1 Sovereign - Elizabeth I 2nd issue
| Issuer | England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1560-1561 |
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| Composition | Gold (.994) |
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| Obverse description | Full-length enthroned effigy of Queen Elizabeth I facing, crowned and robed in royal regalia, seated upon an ornate throne and holding an orb in her left hand and a sceptre in her right. The queen is depicted in a strictly frontal, hieratic pose characteristic of Tudor sovereign coinage. A Latin legend, punctuated by stops, encircles the effigy within a beaded border. The design follows the established iconographic tradition of the English sovereign type, emphasizing royal majesty and divine authority. |
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| Reverse description | A large Tudor rose rendered in high relief dominates the field, its petals radiating outward in an elaborate, stylized floral pattern that nearly fills the coin's surface. Superimposed at the centre of the rose is a quartered royal shield of arms, bearing the lions of England and the fleurs-de-lis of France in alternate quarters, without a central escutcheon. The shield is surmounted by a Tudor crown. A continuous Latin legend, separated by pellet stops and set within a beaded border, encircles the entire design, drawing from Psalm 118:23. |
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| Additional information |
The Second Issue sovereign of Elizabeth I coincides directly with the great recoinage of 1560–1561, one of the most consequential monetary reforms in English history. Lord Treasurer Winchester and Sir Thomas Gresham engineered the withdrawal of the debased silver coinage inherited from Henry VIII and Edward VI — currency so degraded it had driven good coin entirely out of circulation. The gold denominations were less affected by that debasement but were reissued as part of the broader administrative reset.
Struck at the Tower Mint, this sovereign was produced during a window of roughly twelve months before the coinage settled into its next phase. The .994 fineness held to the traditional standard Gresham had argued so forcefully to restore.