1965 Isle of Man Sovereign and its controversy - Plus

[Zebo]

In 1965, there was a gold three piece set consisting of a half, full and five pound sovereign released to commemorate the bicentennial of the 1765 Revestmant act. The Manx parliament authorized the issue but did not declare them as legal tender. The coins did not have the usual bullion hallmark on them, however and after some time and much deliberation - are now considered legal tender. There is also evidence to suggest that these coins actually were released before the Tynwald authorization. That issue has also been debated. These sovereigns were issued by the Royal Mint of England for the IOM in both a Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) and Proof finish. 

IOM sovereigns were not produced again until 1973. These later sovereigns were issued by the Pobjoy Mint in England. The 1965 below is one of my favorites and the 1979 has an added Triskeles in Circle. Sorry for the crummy photos.

 

 

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Hmmm... your post left me with more questions than answers..... 

1. What was the Revestment act? 

2. What was this Tynwald thing? 

3. Did all the coins have the same design? 

4. How many were made, how hard are they to find, what are they worth? 

5. I'm really not sure what the "controversy" is that you are talking about..... could you explain what the issue was, and why it was controversial? 

Assume I don't know anything about what you're talking about..... because I (and most other people reading this) probably don't. 

[Zebo]

Good questions - the Isle of Man is a bit complicated. The Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown Dependency of The UK. Descendents of the island have a Celtic and Viking heritage. In 1709 the island's first official coins were issued by the Lord of Mann and became legal tender in 1710. The cast pennies and half-pennies were made legal tender by an Act of Tynwald, or the Manx Parliment. The Tynwald is the oldest continous Parliment in the world. It celebrated its millennium in 1979 and dates back to AD979. A second and third issue was released in 1733 and 1758. Under the Revestment Act of 1765, The island was sold to the British Crown in 1765. Manx coins were then issued by King George III and Queen Victoria. The last issue was in 1839. Due to a shortage of low value coins during the George III reign, traders, banks and hotels on the island started producing their own. 

In 1965, a collectors set mentioned above was struck for the bicentennial of the 1765 Revstment Act. The Manx Coinage Act of 1970 set in motion the minting of Isle of Man coinage for circulation.  It is interesting that being a Crown Dependency, Isle of Man coins are not legal tender in the UK. They have the same size and weight of the UK coins, but different designs. Over the past two or three decades - the Isle of Man coins are being used on the isle in a much greater scale. 

The 1965 sovereign is the only one of that design - the three legs or Triskeles, is the islands motto. In Latin, its Quocunque Jecris Stabit, which translate to Withersoever, which ever way, you throw it, it will stand. The later Soveriegns had the Norse Warrior design - as shown on the 1979. Isle of Man circulating and NCLT coins have many different designs.  They were all produced in low quantities with some very low. The market price varies because they are not well known or traded. They are increasing in value, however and the right person can drive the price up.

The controversy of the 1965 deals with if it is legal tender or not, if its bullion or even a token, it does hot have the bullion hallmark, but may have been issued before the Act of Tynwald authorizing it as legal tender.

clear as mud? I hope I answered your questions.

[physics-fan3.14]

Well, that explains the historical context for the thing. 

So the controversy was over if it was legal tender or not? Because of some hallmark it was supposed to have? Why was this hallmark important? 

What was the act that declared them legal tender (and why was it important)? It would seem like if the act authorizing them created them as tokens (made of precious metal, so they are obviously bullion), they would have been clear if these were legal tender. Since they're made of gold, it would have been NCLT at best. (and why would they retroactively make these legal tender? I guess, what different does it make?)

I'm familiar with the Triskeles - they are a symbol used on ancient Greek coinage as well. 

So, your added description answered some questions and raised some new ones. 

[Zebo]

The Hallmark isn't important and I'll have to look for the actual act that made them legal tender. They were supposed to be a collectors set, but released before they were authorized. I guess they thought - close enough.

The sovereigns are fairly short sets to collect. You can usually pick them up at reasonable prices, but some dealers have sold them at outrageous prices. They also fill in some of the years that the British sovereigns were not minted.  One of the issues in collecting these coins is the lack of information, both from the mint and in print.