In December The Lord Mayor of the City of London made his first ever visit to India. He was leading a delegation from the UK finance and professional services sector on a five-day trip. He took the opportunity to strike a commemorative gold sovereign at The Royal Mint’s Indian operation.
The Royal Mint licensee in the sub-continent is MMTC-PAMP India. The partnership between the two companies has seen gold sovereigns struck in India for the first time in nearly a century. The Lord Mayor’s striking provided a visible demonstration of the benefits of Britain and India working together.
Sovereigns featuring Benedetto Pistrucci’s ‘St George and the Dragon’ design were last struck in India in 1918 when The Royal Mint’s Bombay branch minted 1,300,000. They were not struck again in the subcontinent until February 2013. At that time MMTC-PAMP’s facility near Delhi did so using tools and techniques provided by the Royal Mint.
The strikings have continued into 2014 with all Indian-made sovereigns carrying the “I” mintmark above the date.
This article was originally printed in World Coin News.
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