Ottawa Mint sovereign

The Ottawa Mint sovereign is a British one pound coin (known as a sovereign) minted between 1908 and 1919 at the Ottawa Mint (known today as the Ottawa branch of the Royal Canadian Mint. This has augmented debate among Canadian numismatists because some view these pieces as Canadian while others view them as British and thus distinct from the decimal series of Canadian coinage.^[1] Since the opening of the Ottawa Mint, the Dominion of Canada's government wanted to produce decimal gold coins.^[1] As it was a branch of the Royal Mint, it was obligated to mint sovereigns on request.^[1] 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.^[2] One Canadian dollar was therefore worth 15/73 of a sovereign.