Treble sovereign legally tenderable in decimal system?

[LFG]

Hello,

As per my previous post, I am interested in all coin which are, or have been, legally tenderable in the decimal system.

The coinage act 1971 http://www.england-legislation.hmso.gov.uk...19710024_en.pdf

states at 1 (2) a) that gold coins shall be in accordance with schedule 1 of the act.

Schedule 1 lists properties for £5, £2 ,£1 and 50p gold coins (sovereigns). However, clause 1 (2) states that any other denomination must be proportioned accordingly.

That being the case, if a £5 must weigh 39.94028 grams, then a £3 gold coin must weigh 23.96417 grams for it to class as legal tender. However, it must also pass the finess requirement.

The treble sovereign probably does not pass the finess requirement and I know nothing about it's weight, but if it did pass these requirements, would it be legal tender in the current system?

I note from clause 2 (1) that only coins made by the mint 'in accordance with the act' are legal tender (I'm sure that's unchanged since the 1870 version of the coinage act). Could coins made before 1870 be 'in accordance with the act' - I'm sure they could in terms of schedule 1, but what about the rest of the act? Does it mean that all coins made before 1870 are not legal tender?

Please help -I'm confused! Is a treble sovereign legal tender, is anything issued before 1870 legal tender i.e. other sovereigns.

Best

Laurence

[TomGoodheart]

Wikipedia says "In 1891 a proclamation was made that members of the general public could hand in any gold coins that were underweight and have them replaced by full weight coins. Any gold coin struck before 1837 also ceased to be legal tender."

In theory coins and banknotes do not need to be legal tender to be accepted as payment. For example the occasional Guernsey and Jersey issue £1s and Scottish notes. But the main issue is perhaps whether you would choose to use a coin to purchase something when its bullion value is far in excess of the purchase price. Or whether your local Tesco would accept such a thing. I imagine the looks from the checkout staff might almost be worth the attempt!