Sovereign Measuring Tolerance

[Slowhand]

I found this forum while searching for Sovereign information.  I have fallen in love with the coin.  I have primarily put all my money into American Gold Eagles.  But Sovereigns allow me to scratch my collectors itch at bullion prices with their great history and different designs.  I can spot a fake AGE a block away.  I’ve handled hundreds of them.  But I don’t have the same experience with sovereigns. 

I bought a dozen from JMB so I don’t doubt their authenticity.  I’m curious how much variation there is in weight and diameter. How far away from a diameter of 22.05mm and a weight of 7.988 is acceptable?

I have a pair from the 80’s that measure:

21.93mm and 7.982g

21.94mm and 7.981g

Thickness is a little trickier.  1.5 and 1.51mm. 

I wouldn’t expect newer coins that haven’t seen circulation to be undersized.  But like I said, I just don’t have experience with these.

[Pete]

I have about 100 sovereigns dating from 1879 to present.
The weight ranges from 7.94 for worn Victorian to 8.02 grams for newer with the average 8.00 g
The newer sovereigns also have a very high sheen, a totally different colour from the older less lustrous gold.
The specification is a minimum of 7.98g
Thickness is a difficult measurement and never measure just the rim which can protrude by different amounts.

[darrol]

15 hours ago, Pete said:

I have about 100 sovereigns dating from 1879 to present.
The weight ranges from 7.94 for worn Victorian to 8.02 grams for newer with the average 8.00 g
The newer sovereigns also have a very high sheen, a totally different colour from the older less lustrous gold.
The specification is a minimum of 7.98g
Thickness is a difficult measurement and never measure just the rim which can protrude by different amounts.

how would you measure how thick a sovereign should be , I have always measured from the rim .

[Pete]

9 minutes ago, darrol said:

how would you measure how thick a sovereign should be , I have always measured from the rim .

The rim can be very misleading.
When the die presses the blank the gold moves and sometimes is extruded a bit more around the rim.
A protruding rim can give a false indication of thickness.

I make a couple of measurements using a micrometer ( shape of a "G" ), avoiding the rim.
The jaws on my micrometer are small enough to permit this.
I use vernier callipers for diameter but they are no use for centre thickness measurements.

[Dragonnumis]

Interesting advice Pete thank you

[Hotdog]

Pete, what thickness did you obtain using G-shaped micrometer? I've noted 1.08mm to 1.09mm when checking in way of field areas on a 2020 sovs.

[Smiler999]

On 01/08/2019 at 11:12, Pete said:

The rim can be very misleading.
When the die presses the blank the gold moves and sometimes is extruded a bit more around the rim.
A protruding rim can give a false indication of thickness.

I make a couple of measurements using a micrometer ( shape of a "G" ), avoiding the rim.
The jaws on my micrometer are small enough to permit this.
I use vernier callipers for diameter but they are no use for centre thickness measurements.

100 sovs, now we know why there's none left for the rest of us lol