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Sovereign - gold coin first issued in 1489 by Henry VII
Kevin Clancy Ph.D. is the Director of the Royal Mint Museum. His book "A History of the Sovereign" states on page 13 that the sovereign was first issued in 1489 under Henry VII and that it was worth one pound sterling (£1), equal to 20 shillings.

A little over 100 years later, childless Elizabeth was succeed by James I who united the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. So he called his 20 shilling gold coin worth one pound the "unite." He revalued the "unite" to 22 shillings and issued a new 20 shilling gold coin worth one pound, but did not name it. So people called it by the name of the source of the gold - Guinea in Africa. But with shillings made of silver and guineas made of gold, the value of the guinea fluctuated, reaching as much as 30 shillings. In  1717, the Master of the Mint under George I fixed the guinea at 21 shillings. The name of this Master of the Mint? Sir Isaac Newton.

People confuse sovereigns, guineas and pounds. In 1851, after the guinea had gone out of circulation, the Royal Yacht Squadron offer a "Cup of one hundred Sovereigns value" for a race around the Isle of Wight, open "to the Clubs of all Nations." They advertised the race on their poster for their regatta as "The R.Y.S. £100 Cup." The race was won by the yacht America. The yacht's owner gave the cup to the New York Yacht Club, but they erroneously engraved it "100 Guinea Cup." JackGriffinCupExperience (talk) 10:32, 2 February 2024 (UTC)