Sovereign/Half Sovereign usage

[E1944]

I was wondering how often the Sovereign/Half Sovereign would have used/seen in daily life in the early 1900s. Was it a normal occurrence to have one in your pocket, or was it reserved mainly for larger purchases? 

[Rob]

The relative value of the sovereign to wages and general prices had to restrict its use to larger purchases and to a small section of the population. A pound or even a half was simply too impractical for daily transactions where bread or beer cost pence and the weekly wage for many was less than a quid. You only have to look at the relatively low numbers of crowns in circulation to establish that the day to day use of higher denominations was not extensive because the crown would be the first coin of choice to be given as change and they effectively stopped making them in 1900/1902.

One obvious use was by travellers abroad who could take a readily convertible coin to foreign countries. Think in terms of Smithson, or the Duoro, where clearly large sums were moved around the planet. Having the highest intrinsic value, gold has long been used for settling trading debts, but was of little use to the masses.

Edited July 29, 2017 by Rob

[E1944]

Many thanks Rob, much appreciated. 

[Peckris]

I think it's true of all ages, pre-Roman onwards, that gold was not used for everyday transactions. In the days before banks, it's the form you would have held your assets in, apart from property, land, and such like. Even from the 17th Century onwards (when banks appeared) gold would have been a rich man's toy - either held in a strongbox in preference to a bank, or used for gambling, betting, prize money e.g. in horse racing, or for paying for really expensive items like original works of art, racehorses etc. That's why pre-Victorian gold coins are worth far in excess of their gold value - the rarity value alone due to such limited issues makes them very costly for collectors.

[E1944]

Very interesting. Thanks for all the input. 

[Leo]

5 hours ago, Peckris said:

gold would have been a rich man's toy - either held in a strongbox in preference to a bank, or used for gambling, betting, prize money e.g. in horse racing, or for paying for really expensive items like original works of art, racehorses etc

Isn't that one reason why guineas were used for certain things, rather than pounds, even after they were taken off circulation? 

'Certain things' being auctions, architect's or lawyer wages I.e Non-every day's stuff