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Great Britain Sovereign, 1838 (gold)

IMAGE number
SMT1217129
Image title
Great Britain Sovereign, 1838 (gold)
Artist
British School, (19th century) / British
Location
National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA
Medium
gold
Date
1838 AD (C19th AD)
Image description

James Smithson’s will left his fortune to his nephew but stipulated that if that nephew died without heirs, the money should go "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The Smithson bequest consisted of 104,960 gold sovereigns. Presumably they all bore the head of the new Queen Victoria, who had acceded to the throne in 1837. The United States insisted on new sovereigns rather than circulated ones for a very practical reason: the United States would get more gold that way. All but two coins were melted down, reminted as American coins, and spent. These coins are the last two originals.

Photo credit
© Smithsonian Institution / Bridgeman Images
Image keywords
Great Britain / Europe / sovereign / metal / coins / laurel / coat of arms / coinage / numismatics / laurels / crown / metallic / currency / crowns / british / reverse / money / sovereigns / coin
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Largest available format 3328 × 2448 px 3 MB
Dimension [pixels] Dimension in 300dpi [mm] File size [MB]
Large 3328 × 2448 px 282 × 207 mm 2.6 MB
Medium 1024 × 753 px 87 × 64 mm 1.1 MB

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