Elizabeth II 1952 - Sovereign

Sovereigns were struck in 1953, the Coronation year of Elizabeth II, bearing the portrait of the Queen by Mary Gillick, though the gold pieces were only placed in the major museums. A 1953 sovereign sold at auction in 2014 for £384,000. In 1957, the Treasury decided to defend the status of the sovereign both by continuing prosecutions, and by issuing new pieces with the current date. Elizabeth II sovereigns bearing Gillick's portrait were struck as bullion pieces between 1957 and 1959, and from 1962 to 1968. The counterfeiting problem was minimised by the striking of about 45,000,000 sovereigns by 1968, and efforts by Treasury solicitors which resulted in the sovereign's acceptance as legal tender by the highest courts of several European nations. In 1966, the Wilson Government placed restrictions on the holding of gold coins to prevent hoarding against inflation, with collectors required to obtain a licence from the Bank of England. This proved ineffective, as it drove gold dealing underground, and was abandoned in 1970.

The sovereign survived both decimalisation and the move of the Royal Mint from Tower Hill, London to Llantrisant, Wales. The last of the Gillick sovereigns had been struck in 1968; when production resumed in 1974, it was with a portrait by Arnold Machin. The last coin minted at Tower Hill, in 1975, was a sovereign.

Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. Elizabeth was born in London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and she was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York; and Edward, Earl of Wessex.