Description
The Honorary Chairman of Hattons of London, The Rt. Hon Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea and 12th Earl of Nottingham, has named the Britons he feels are among our nation’s most inspiring. Surveying the top 20 names from the BBC Poll from 2002, he has chosen: Shakespeare, Darwin, Turing, Newton and Brunel for this set.
These inspiring Britons are now all celebrated in The 2025 Earl’s Inspiring Britons Gold Sovereign range. Struck in pure 24 carat gold to underline the importance of this commemoration, for some of them, this is the first time these Britons have been celebrated on sovereign coins of this purity.
The first time some of these inspiring figures from our nation’s history have been celebrated on sovereign coins in 99.9% purity
You know sovereign coins are rarely minted in anything other than 22 carat gold. It takes an event of considerable importance to occasion them being minted in 24 carat purity.
For example, in the last decade there have been sovereign coins minted from 24 carat gold for Queen Elizabeth II’s 95th Birthday in 2021, the bicentenary of Queen Victoria’s birth in 2019. This should give you an idea of how important these events need to be to justify being minted in pure 24 carat gold.
The reason is that the sovereign, as a coin, has historically been minted in 22 carat gold. The step up to 24 carat gold, which is 99.9% purity, needs to be suitably justified.
The design of these new coins reflects centuries of royal history
Each of the coins in this range celebrates a different figure from our history.The one-eighth sovereign celebrates Winston Churchill and features a side-profile portrait of him with a pattern behind him of silhouetted lions: Churchill had been given a lion statue by the people of Luxembourg, which he used to pat on the way to his office.
The quarter sovereign is in tribute to Charles Darwin, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology, he was a proponent of the theory of natural selection that explained the evolution of species including that of mankind from apes. His work was of such importance he was given a burial at Westminster Abbey. The coin shows him with a repeating pattern of primate silhouettes in the background.
The half sovereign celebrates William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. Behind the profile portrait of him is a pattern made up of just some of the 1,700 words he is credited with ‘inventing’ for the English language that are still in use today. It’s surprising just how important some of them are. Imagine not having word for: bedroom, employer, excitement, generous, informal, invitation, lonely,.. and the list goes on!
The sovereign in this range celebrates Alan Turing, the mathematician, logician and cryptanalyst who is widely considered the father of theoretical computer science. His development of the electromechanical ‘Bombe’ machine led to the deciphering of German messages sent through their Enigma code machines. Although Turing was awarded an OBE by King George VI, much of his work was unable to be shared after the war because he had carried it out under the Official Secrets Act. His true genius is probably more understood now, than at any time in the past fifty years. In a 2019 BBC series, Turing was voted by the viewing public the most important person of the 20th century.
Lastly, the double sovereign celebrates Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of motion and gravitation, while the five sovereign honours Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer and inventor best known for his pioneering work in the design and construction of the Thames Tunnel.
Authorised by Tristan Da Cunha and approved by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Buckingham Palace, it is a wonderful commemoration of some of our nations most inspiring Britons.
