1 Sovereign - Elizabeth I 6th issue

The Sixth Issue sovereign was authorized under the indenture of 1583 between Elizabeth and her moneyers, raising the fineness to .995 — effectively the purest gold standard achievable in Tudor refining practice. This contrasted sharply with earlier Elizabethan issues, which had drawn persistent complaint from merchants who suspected short weight and impure metal.

Spink 2529 is among the scarcer of the six Elizabethan sovereign types, partly because production ran through a period of chronic bullion shortage driven by Spanish interdiction of South American silver fleets and the disruption of Antwerp as England's primary trading entrepôt.