1913 Gold Sovereign Coin Georgivs V D.G. Britt

1913 Gold Sovereign Coin Georgivs V D.G. Britt

1913 saw the last Sovereign struck before the World would know the horrors of total war. After World War One, The Sovereign was never again used for circulated purposes, ending a history that stretched back to 1489.

Herbert Henry Asquith, the Prime Minister who would take the country into World War One, sits in number 10 Downing Street.

Harry Brearley of Sheffield invents Stainless Steel, which is still to this day the most widely used alloy in the world.

But 1913 is best remembered for the sacrifices of the people dedicated to the Suffragette movement. Today we may take the right to vote for granted. When we turn 18, regardless of gender or class, we have a voice at the polls. Just over 100 years ago, before the outbreak of the First World War, that right was held by a narrow section of society; just 60% of male householders over the age of 21.

One of the most shocking moments of the 20th Century occurred in this year when Suffragette Emily Davison throws herself in front of the horse of King George V at the Epsom Derby, becoming the first woman to give her life in the fight for female emancipation.

In May of that year, Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 9 months imprisonment for conspiracy, but was released the following month on grounds of ill health. Later that year she would deliver her Freedom or Death speech, considered one of the greatest of the 20th Century asking her captivated audience "is there any limit to what we can do except the limit we put upon ourselves?"