News Detail

Images of fake sovereigns



I had the unfortunate displeasure of advising a collector that four of his gold sovereigns were in fact fakes or counterfeits. I have uploaded images of these fake gold coins below so that other collectors can have a look. Remember, always remain vigilant when buying “raw” or uncertified gold sovereigns from the internet. I have also written a detailed article about counterfeit gold sovereigns, which you can read here.

Fake sovereign

A rather good counterfeit 1895 Melbourne Sovereign. Notice the badly-formed legend on the obverse.

Fake sovereign

A poor counterfeit gold sovereign, dated 1918-I. Notice the unnaturally thick rims on the reverse.

Counterfeit gold sovereign

The above fake sovereign, dated 1926-SA, is a better example of a counterfeit. However, it has a smokey, smooth appearance that a lot of fake sovereigns have. If you look closely on the reverse, you can also see evidence of die cracks on the obverse design and unusual flatness in the strike of the obverse and reverse (which is unusual for South African sovereign issues).

Counterfeit gold sovereign

Another example of a fake sovereign, dated 1928-SA. Its appearance is similar to the 1926-SA sovereign mentioned previously.

Counterfeit gold sovereign

Yet another fake sovereign from 1928-SA. (Actually, it might have been made last year, for all we know.) Its smooth, bright-yellow appearance is unnatural, although this example has a far superior strike than the other three fake sovereigns mentioned above.

Fake silver sovereign

A fake silver “sovereign”, the first I've seen in silver. Note that the manufacturer has paired a George V obverse with a Victorian-dated reverse. King George V didn’t start appearing on coins until 1911.

1877S St George Sovereign

An 1877 Sydney St George reverse sovereign - a date that does not exist. The "S" mintmark was stamped on both the obverse and reverse.

1917 Fake Sovereign

A counterfeit 1917 London sovereign on EBay in August 2015. If genuine, it would be worth over AU$30,000. The advertiser—a seller with 99.9% feedback and 11,598 points—failed to describe the coin as a counterfeit.

1897S Fake Sovereign 1897S Counterfeit Sovereign

A very crude counterfeit of an 1897S sovereign. While it looks very fake, the use of the Jubilee head design on what should be a Veiled head sovereign makes this a particularly obvious fake. As of August 2015, this metal disc was available on EBay for sale at AU$599. In the description, the seller guarantees that “all our objects are genuine and authentic”.

1911 fake sovereign1911 fake sovereign

A counterfeit 1911 Canadian sovereign listed on Ebay in February 2019. This is a rather obvious fake which is easily picked. Everything is wrong about it. 

 

Another fake 1911C sovereign, this one for auction by a German auction house in March 2021.

 

1917 sovereign counterfeit

1917 sovereign fake1917 sovereign counterfeit

Images of a counterfeit 1917 sovereign. This fake coin was offered to me in April 2021 from a seller who was assured it was genuine. I hope he or she didn't pay too much!

 

1877S fake sovereign
A counterfeit sovereign from 1877. This is counterfeit because no St George reverse sovereigns were minted in Sydney in 1877.

 

Related links:

A counterfeit “sovereign” in silver

Counterfeit gold sovereigns

 

Popular PCGS and NGC-graded Coins