Sell Sovereigns by Post
Gold sovereigns are one of the most recognisable coins in the world and one of the most common things people inherit without quite knowing what to do with them. We buy full sovereigns, half sovereigns and other British gold coins, and we have been valuing them for over 35 years as a family owned and managed business with seven high street stores. You can sell to us by post using a free postal pack, or bring your coins into any of our shops.
It is worth being clear about how we price them. We are a precious metals buyer, so our offers are based on the gold content of the coin and any collectable premium. For the vast majority of sovereigns, which are ordinary circulated coins produced in their millions, the gold content is what they are worth and our offer will reflect the gold price. If you own genuinely rare dates, proof sets or coins in exceptional condition, a specialist numismatic dealer may pay you more than we can, and we would rather tell you that up front than have you post them to us.
Request Your Free PackWhat a sovereign is worth
A sovereign is 22 carat gold, which is 91.67% pure. The rest is alloy added for durability, so the coin weighs slightly more than the gold it contains. These figures are fixed and have not changed since 1817, which makes valuation straightforward.
| Coin | Total weight | Pure gold content |
|---|---|---|
| Full sovereign | 7.99 g | 7.32 g |
| Half sovereign | 3.99 g | 3.66 g |
| Double sovereign (£2) | 15.98 g | 14.64 g |
| Five pound sovereign | 39.94 g | 36.61 g |
Your offer is calculated as a percentage of the live gold spot price applied to that gold content. Because the gold price moves throughout the day, so does the value of your coins. You can check the current rate on our Today's Prices page before you send anything.
Which sovereigns and gold coins we buy
We buy sovereigns of any date, any monarch and any mint. Condition is not a barrier, because a worn sovereign contains almost exactly the same gold as a crisp one.
- Full sovereigns and half sovereigns from any year
- Double and five pound sovereigns
- Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, Elizabeth II and Charles III issues
- Coins from the London, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Ottawa, Bombay and Pretoria mints
- Gold Britannias and other British gold coins
- Krugerrands and other world gold coins
- Sovereigns mounted in pendants, rings or bracelets
- Bent, scratched, drilled or damaged coins
If your sovereign is mounted in jewellery, send it as it is. We will value the coin on its gold content and the mount separately, since mounts are often 9ct and are worth less per gram than the coin itself. Please do not attempt to remove a coin from a mount yourself, as it is easy to damage the coin in the process.
Please do not clean your coins
Polishing, scrubbing or dipping a gold coin in cleaning solution removes a small amount of metal and can leave visible scratches. It will not increase what we pay you and, if the coin turns out to be one of the more collectable dates, it can reduce what a specialist would offer.
Send your coins exactly as you found them, tarnish, dust and all. We would far rather assess an untouched coin.
Sending sovereigns by post, what you need to know
Every postal pack we provide is sent using Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, which carries compensation cover of up to £750 per parcel. Gold coins are unusually valuable for their size, and in practical terms that means one full sovereign, or two half sovereigns, is about as much as a single covered parcel should carry.
If you have more coins than that, you have three options. You can request additional free packs and send one coin per parcel. You can buy additional insurance cover at your Post Office at your own cost. Or, if you have several coins, you are very welcome to bring them into any of our seven stores, where we will value them in front of you and pay you the same day with nothing in transit at all. For a collection of any size, visiting a store is genuinely the sensible choice. Full details of what is and is not covered are on our Insurance Cover page.
Proof of identity
If the total value of what you sell us is more than £1,000, you may be asked to provide proof of identification before we release payment, so that we can meet our legal obligations. This usually means photo ID and a recent proof of address. Given the value of gold coins, this threshold is reached easily, so it is worth expecting it. We will tell you if it applies and how to send your documents securely.
You also need to be 18 or over and have the right to sell the coins you send to us.
A note on tax
Gold sovereigns dated 1837 or later are UK legal tender, and coins that are UK legal tender are generally exempt from Capital Gains Tax when you sell them. Gold Britannias are treated the same way. Foreign gold coins, such as Krugerrands, do not have that exemption.
We are gold buyers rather than tax advisers, so please treat this as general background only and check your own position with HMRC or a qualified accountant if the amounts involved are significant.
How to sell your sovereigns
Request a free postal pack, send your coin to us using the Special Delivery label provided, and we will contact you with a no obligation offer once our valuers have assessed it. Accept and we pay by bank transfer, usually the same day and always by the end of the next working day. Decline and your coin is returned to you free of charge, fully tracked.