If you have decided to put a slice of your savings into UK gold, the choice usually narrows to two coins: the Full Sovereign and the 1oz Britannia. Both are Royal Mint coins, both are British legal tender, both are CGT-free, both are recognised by any reputable bullion dealer in the world. They differ in size, fineness, premium over the gold spot price, and the practical question of how easy they are to part with.
The Sovereign
The Full Sovereign weighs 7.98g and is 22-carat gold (91.67 per cent fine), so it contains roughly 7.32g of pure gold. It has been minted in Britain since 1817. At today’s gold price you would expect to pay around £700 for a Full Sovereign, depending on the year and condition.
Sovereigns also come in fractional sizes:
- Half Sovereign — half the gold of a Full, around £370 today
- Quarter Sovereign — quarter the gold of a Full, around £200 today
- Double Sovereign and Five Sovereign — less common, but available
The advantage of Sovereigns is granularity. If you want to sell ten per cent of your holding, you can sell the right number of coins. If you want to gift a coin, the unit is small enough that you can do it without breaking the bank.
The Britannia
The 1oz Britannia weighs 31.1g and is 999.9 fine (24-carat). Since 2013 they have been struck in pure gold, so the weight is the gold weight. At today’s spot price you would expect to pay around £2,100 for a 1oz Britannia, including a small premium over spot.
Britannias also come in fractional sizes (half ounce, quarter, tenth, twentieth) but the 1oz is by far the most common.
The advantage of Britannias is concentration. If you have, say, £20,000 to put into gold, ten Britannias is a very compact package: it fits in a shoe box. The same value in Sovereigns is roughly thirty coins. Premium over spot is also slightly lower per gram on Britannias because the production cost per unit is amortised across more gold.
Which to start with
The honest answer is "it depends on how you want to be able to part with the coins later". Three considerations decide it for most people.
If you want flexibility on the way out, start with Sovereigns. The smaller unit size means you can sell in small chunks. Want to take a holiday and need £3,000 of gold to be liquid? Five Sovereigns. Want to gift a single coin to a grandchild on their 18th? Easy.
If you want the lowest premium per gram, start with Britannias. The 1oz coin is the most cost-effective per unit of gold. If you are putting in a meaningful amount and do not anticipate needing to sell in small chunks, Britannias are the slightly more efficient choice.
If you want to ladder in over time, mix. A common pattern is: start with two or three Britannias for the bulk of the holding, then add Sovereigns each year as smaller top-ups. You end up with a divisible holding that has been built up over time at different price points.
The tax position is identical
Both are British legal tender. Both are CGT-exempt. Neither attracts VAT (gold of investment grade is VAT-exempt). The choice between Sovereign and Britannia is a question of unit size, premium, and personal preference, not tax.
Read more on the Tax in plain English page if you want the full position. Or talk to us if you want help working out which mix suits your situation.