§ Captain Kerbyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many golden sovereigns were produced during the mintage year 1957; how many are in circulation in the United Kingdom; how many have been sold to foreigners and at what price per sovereign; and what is the purpose in producing these coins.
Mr. Amory2,072,000 sovereigns were minted during the calendar year 1957. They are not issued for circulation in the United Kingdom but are used, together with those currently being minted, to augment the stocks of sovereigns in the nation's gold reserves. This enables sovereigns to be released for circulation abroad to meet a demand which has given rise to counterfeiting. Sales of 33W sovereigns for this purpose are being made from the Exchange Equalisation Account at current market prices and for dollars or other convertible currency; it is not the practice to give details of the transactions on this account.