The British Gold Sovereign was first issued in 1489 for Henry VII of England. Typically, this bullion coin had a value of one pound sterling (or 20 shillings) was originally minted in 23-carat gold and depicted the King seated on his throne on the coin's obeverse and the Royal Coat of Arms on the reverse. Later, Henry VIII changed the coin's purity to 22-carat, which eventually became the British and United States standard.

The modern Gold Sovereign was introduced in 1817 when the brilliant Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci who had been appointed to the Royal Mint the previous year, introduced a bold new theme to the Gold Sovereign: St George slaying the Dragon which remains on the coin today nearly two-hundred years after it's introduction. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Time to Act
The following are some snippets from the most recent issue of the International Forecaster. For the full 27 page issue, please see subscription information below.

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The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages was a period of roughly 1000 years (between about the 5th to the 16th centuries) when the state had no flag, no anthem, no army, no navy, no factories etc. All the symbols of statehood were provided by those who saw themselves as near equals in authority to the ruler.

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Gold coins prices vary very quickly. Today, in the time of economic slowdown, gold coins are the best investment for planning and having a safe future. The price of gold coin is increasing day by day and hence everyone has them in their mind for a safe and great future. Hence, people are investing in it.

If someone wants to buy a gold coin, then he/she must keep an eye on its pricing. There are a number of gold coins present in the market, including Chinese Pandas, American Eagles, South African Krugerrands, Sovereign (Australian and UK) and Canadian Maple Leafs and British Sovereigns. All these coins have different prices. The pricing of these coins depends on many factors. Some of very important factors include coin type, coin size, face value, coin weight, quality etc. All these factor effect the pricing of gold coins.

The pricing of gold coin depends on coin type. The size of the coin also affects the pricing of the gold coin. Larger the size of the coin, greater is the pricing. Face value is another factor that affects the price of a gold coin. Face value is what is printed on the face of the coin.

Quality is one of the most important factors if we are taking about gold coins. It greatly affects the pricing of the gold coin. It means how much quantity of gold is present in the coin, like if a gold coin contains more than 90% of gold, it is referred to as a pure gold coin. Pure gold coins are expensive and the prices are higher than other gold coins.

So if we are buying a gold coin, we have to keep all these factors in our mind so as to know the pricing of a coin that can fit in our budget. By analyzing all these factors like quality of the coin, amount of gold present in the coin, we can easily determine whether the price of the coin is worthy or not.

If we take a look on last year’s record, we find different pricing for different gold coins. In the last month of 2008 the pricing of some different Gold Coins are following:

American gold eagle - $ 907.55
British sovereign - $ 237.88
Canadian gold maple leaf - $ 951.21
These above prices are according to different weight of the coins. The variation in weight will provide variation in price for a same coin.

So, one must research about the coins conditions and all the factor mention above. A slight change can affect the pricing and value of the coin.

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Portugal downgrade weighs on global sentiment
In another sign that Europe's sovereign debt problems are worsening, the ratings agency, Filch, has cut Portugal's credit rating because of concerns about the country's deficit.

Read more on ABC via Yahoo!7 News

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