How To Identify A Fake Sovereign - An Introduction

Lawrence Chard offers helpful tips and advice on one of the hot topics in numismatics: how to identify a fake sovereign.
This introduction covers sound, sight and weight - three of the basic indicators of fake coins. Future videos will cover some of the more complex indicators and some fakes that might even fool us!
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[@milsub59]

Excellent ! I have been buying sovereigns for 30 year , and you never stop learning .

[@Chard1964Ltd]

Thank you Tom. We'll be adding some new videos soon so stay tuned!

[@corsagafa]

Excellent video with plenty of info,I would like to know,if you are buying sovereigns as a bullion investment would it not be easier just to measure and weigh to spot fakes?

[@TomTheEnglishPicker]

I look forward to seeing them as its good to have a voice on here showing the British coin business.

[@pmarmify]

I learnt a huge amount. Many thanks. Did not know there were 21 carat gold full sovereigns out there

[@parmoescobar8873]

First class video from a first class expert. Good stuff chard!

[@Chard1964Ltd]

David Jones Thank you David, we really appreciate your comments.

[@nikhilgoyal007]

I am just becoming a huge fan boy of your company's culture!!!

[@dellrugby]

Very informative, thanks!

[@Teleman01]

I have just acquired a 2014 gold Sovereign that has a thickness of around 1.82mm in a particular area. Thru a loupe I can see that where is was stamped, the was little material left on the rim. The weight is correct and the Diameter is 21.90mm. Does this happen on some of these? My 2015 has a bit of the same issue where there is a little rim from pressing the Sovereign when minted. Measure 1.74mm in some places. I wanted to see if this is normal or if I should be concerned.

[@pmarmify]

I use a borne scale is that wise for half sov & full sovs?

[@apismellifera5623]

Thank you for the informative video. I really like the video's of your channel, they are to the point and are very factual. I hope you have time to create the follow up video's on 'How to identify a fake sov' soon :)

[@Chard1964Ltd]

+Apis Mellifera We're working on some more videos, hopefully we'll have more ready soon. Thank you for your feedback.

[@n3hp5]

Thanks for the video, recently bought a Half Sovereign 1911 and confirmed it is indeed real, plan on buying a 1oz Britannia soon along with more Sovereigns :)

[@elgilberto3672]

I have two gold sovereigns will it be worth more if its in mint condition sealed in the package

[@KirkLee1983]

How much would a 1909 London mint, Edward 7 prestine 1/4 Gold sovereign go for??!!. Easily ms 64 or better!!

[@TomTheEnglishPicker]

Great and clear video. I'd love to work at a place like Chard.

[@truro007]

Excellent presentation Lawrence.

[@manilynosigan3327]

i have 1984 elisabith 1 dollar

[@Greylocks129]

Not sure how I found my way here but nevertheless it was a very interesting video!

[@Irishsilverstack]

fair play for putting this up! good video

[@Chard1964Ltd]

Irishsilverstack Thank you for commenting, do you come across any fake coins?

[@coastie378]

These are on my list, A 1 Oz Silver Britannia ( £2 ) and a 1 Oz Gold Britannia ( £100, I think ). These are .999 Fine Gold or Silver. I use Cotton gloves to handle them if they are not already sealed. That is very informative. The Britannias wil probably be my one foray outside of US Coins, but then again, we'll see. :-)

[@Chard1964Ltd]

Thank you for commenting. Have you watched our video about Britannias? The Royal Mint started producing Britannias in 0.999 fineness (gold and silver ) in 2013, but some of the older coins have beautiful designs and have a sharper finish than more recent bullion issues. If you'd like some more information, please let us know, we'd be happy to assist you.

[@KirkLee1983]

Did London make Edward 7th in 1909??!!. Mine is a 1909 I don't see mint mark.

[@twentyfrancs3744]

very informative and thorough. thank you for posting -20fr

[@Chard1964Ltd]

Thank you, it's always good to hear your feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to comment

[@GtHelmsman]

Assuming the sovereign was issued in a valid year and valid mint, it is sufficient to verify its authenticity by the three measurables: weight, diameter and thickness?

[@philippayne4951]

Sorry that is not correct many years ago yes, but not now. There are some very dangerous fakes out there, that are so good, even top experts have been caught out. I have collected these pieces for over 40 years, and consider myself to be pretty good at spotting them, but even NGC and PCG slabbing have been caught out. weight diameter and thickness and mint mark are the basic tests, but their is a lot more then that believe me. Unless you know what to look for in a genuine Sovereign, buy only from such as Chards spinks baldwins, and other good top bullion dealers. But always remember, even the best can slip up, people are only human, but at least they will replace it if found to be fake.

[@aileennijmeh9059]

I have a couple of 1/4 Sovereign coins any way to know if they are real? It’s been confirmed that is 22k gold but no one has had the knowledge to know whether it’s real or copy’s any help

[@aileennijmeh9059]

1911

[@dorianTHEdetector]

Do you confiscated the fakes from the sellers to end up with that many fakes.

[@Chard1964Ltd]

***** We don't confiscate coins but we would offer to buy them for the metal value - usually 90% of intrinsic. We have a large container of fake coins which we use for training purposes. They are never resold. Have you come across any counterfeit coins?

[@numanuma20]

Thank you sir. I bought a 1959 sovereign in MS64 graded by NGC on eBay. I have some people on the silver forum checked the number on the slab and it shows up as being real. As an American, I know nothing about sovereigns as I'm more of pre-33 guy.

[@KirkLee1983]

You can check yourself on pcgs cert

[@philippayne4951]

Buying Sovereigns on ebay these days is a very risky business, if you know nothing about them. The amount of fakes is staggering, and is better and safer to buy only from good dealers such as chards.

[@themagpie_1]

my nan recently gave me what was too be my mums coins, who i just lost..she is 90yrs old and has just given me an Edward Vii. its a 1909 with the p in the mess above it. is this real as your video mentions nothing of this as a marker, it weighs 7.8/7.9grms

[@Chard1964Ltd]

Sorry for your loss Willzy. The P is the mint mark and designates it as a Perth Mint sovereign. There were perth mint sovereigns produced in 1909. Our website with contact details is www.chards.co.uk if you need more information. Apologies for the lateness of the reply.

[@husseins.7463]

I have a sovereign that has a stamp what says J21, does that mean it's still real 21k gold?

[@KirkLee1983]

Mine weighs 7.9 or 8 grams

[@karlcalito5916]

What kind of value would a 1887 jubilee head London mint sovereign in absolutely pristine original condition be???

[@Chard1964Ltd]

+Brad Phipps The catalogue value is £475 in uncirculated condition. This would not generally be the price that you would achieve if you were to sell the coin.

[@karlcalito5916]

Thanks for the info!

[@phrenzy1]

I have a sovereign that is likely fake but looks right, weighs the right amount to within 1/100th of a gram and xrf testing showed it was 22k gold. It's an 1877 s st george. Apparently the krause coin directory lists a few that were struck so they do exist but I can't find a picture anywhere to compare it to. I don't suppose you guys would know where I might find a picture in an old catalogue or something? I've shown it to a couple local dealers and they've told me that it looks good, definitely not a cast jewelers copy or anything. They certainly aren't saying it's real, just that it's high enough quality to investigate. Obviously is likely to be a fake but who would counterfeit a coin that would immediately raise eyebrows in a bank or at a dealer? It doesn't make much sense to me. Any help you could provide would be greatfully accepted.

[@annietaflorijn50]

try goldsovereigns.co.uk.

[@doncristobalaspee5925]

I'm hard of hearing and unfortunately the background noise in the video means I can't hear what you're saying.

[@Chard1964Ltd]

+Escobar Manchulo we will work on the subtitles, thank you for letting us know

[@user-cw9qn1nb2n]

So a 1918 sovereign doesn't exist. But neither did a 1952 half-crown until one was discovered in Canada in the 1960s. So can you be 100% certain that the sovereign is really a fake? What convinces you that it is?

[@Dave-fk5bu]

Useful video, but the handling and clinging against each other as you go through each coin makes me cringe

[@philippayne4951]

I wonder why Mr chard made this film. It shows nothing that is any help to anyone about spotting forgeries. There are a great deal of different fake sovereigns around, and this film gives such obvious forgeries its not much help. All this program does is show his business. The only help for the novice was about incorrect dates, where sovereigns were never minted. Getting spinks book of British coins will give the novice all that information and more.

[@PilotLyons]

Over 2 mins in and you still have not told us

[@philippayne4951]

Hi I did have to laugh at chard. He is a great person to speak too, but sadly as you said he has told the viewer nothing on how to spot fake sovereigns, which is what the program was about. In fairness however It is a big subject and would take a long time to explain all types that are around. But he could have explained some of the more common types around, ie such as an 1895 date with George V head . These pieces were made in Italy in the 1970s I worked at the Royal mint in the late 1960s and worked on making the Mary Gillick Sovereigns and other pre- decimal coins.