Introduction

Mint marks appear on gold sovereign once UK’s power expanded and established the colonies. The Royal Mint opened branches overseas in the following order:

• Sydney (Australia), 1854, following the discovery of gold in Ophir (New South Wales)
• Melbourne (Australia), 2nd June 1872
• Perth (Australia), 8th June 1899
• Ottawa (Canada), 2nd January 1908
• Mumbai / Bombay (India), 21st December 1917, during the first World War
• Pretoria (South Africa), 1st January 1923

The branches closed in the following order:

• Sydney, 1926 (after 72 years of operation)
• Ottawa, 1931. The Ottawa branch became under control of the Government of Canada and became the Royal Canadian Mint
• Mumbai / Bombay. Closed in May 1919
• Pretoria. Closed the 30 June 1941 and became the South African Mint.

Where is the mint mark on a gold sovereign?

The location of the mint mark depends on the type of gold sovereign.

Young Head Shield Back	Young Head, St Georges Reverse	Jubilee Head Old Head Edward VII Georges V

Mint marks letters

The mint marks letters represented the city where the coin was produced (e.g: letter M for Melbourne mint in Australia). 

The only exception is for coins manufactured in Ottawa, Bombay and Pretoria, where the letter represents the country, and not the city (e.g: letter C for Ottawa mint in Canada ).

This can be easily understood, as the letter “P” was already taken by Perth, and could not be used for Pretoria.

Only gold coins produced in the London branch do not have a mint mark.

Mint marks per sovereign