The Ottawa Mint sovereign is a British one pound coin (known as a

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

) minted between 1908 and 1919 at the Ottawa Mint (known today as the

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

branch of the

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufacture ...

. This has augmented debate among Canadian

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

s because some view these pieces as Canadian while others view them as British and thus distinct from the decimal series of Canadian coinage. Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, W.K. Cross, p. 182, The Charlton Press, Toronto, Ontario, Since the opening of the Ottawa Mint, the Dominion of Canada’s government wanted to produce decimal gold coins. As it was a branch of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

, it was obligated to mint sovereigns on request. When sovereigns were requested, it was usually for export causes. The sovereign’s value was set at “four dollars and eighty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent” by the Currency Act of 1910, and made legal tender in Canada along with divisions of the sovereign.''Canada_Gazette
'',_9-10_Edward_VII,_Chapter_14,_page_27,_June_4,_1910.html" ;"title="Canada Gazette">''Canada Gazette
'', 9-10 Edward VII, Chapter 14, page 27, June 4, 1910">Canada Gazette">''Canada Gazette
'', 9-10 Edward VII, Chapter 14, page 27, June 4, 1910/ref> One Canadian dollar was therefore worth 15/73 of a sovereign.

Edward VII

The various branch mints produced sovereigns for the Royal Mint. A mint mark distinguished the Ottawa Mint’s production of the sovereigns. All sovereigns produced in

had a “C” mint mark to signify that it was produced in Canada. The sovereigns of 1908 were Specimen coins only and its tiny mintage was struck merely to establish the series. The production for the circulation of sovereigns began in 1909.

George V

The mintages for the sovereigns produced at the Ottawa Mint were modest. The total of all Ottawa Mint sovereigns barely equalled the yearly mintage compared to the London, England branch of the Royal Mint and the Australian branches of the Royal Mint. Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, W.K. Cross, p. 183, The Charlton Press, Toronto, Ontario, The Ottawa Mint’s highest output for sovereigns was in 1911 when it produced 256,946. The rarest Ottawa Mint sovereign is the 1916. Only 50 pieces are known to exist today, and there is no evidence to explain why there is such a low amount in existence. Until the last few years, the 1916 sovereign that was minted in London, England was rare as well, but thousands were released from a British bank. Another tale is that the 1916 Ottawa Mint sovereigns were lost at sea on its way to England during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. This is quickly dismissed because Canada could have deposited the gold with the

New York Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of Ne ...

for the account of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottawa Mint Sovereigns Coins of Canada