One ... sovereign

Mono Monday: One

This is a shot of two sides of the same coin, in this case a 1902 gold sovereign.  

You remember coins presumably?  We used to use them to buy stuff with, back before the pandemic.  Imagine that, people used to go around with pockets that actually jingled with the sound of money.  A sovereign was worth a pound and was made of gold.  Sovereigns remained in circulation until the first world war, so most Edwardian sovereigns are quite worn, as this one is.

Back then a sovereign was worth a lot than today's pound, in rough terms well over £120 today.  That's the effect of inflation for you.  Because it was so valuable it was important not to lose it ....and as it measured less than 2cm across and was quite thin losing it was a distinct possibility for the careless.

Although Edward VII actually made it to the throne in 1901, he was not actually crowned until 1902, so the first coins issued with his bonce on them were dated 1902.  Coins were of course minted in 1901 but they continued to show Queen Victoria's head.