What is a curt weight sovereign with the words royal mint on it?

Answer 1

"CURT" is an abreviation for "Current". It is a "CURRENT WEIGHT SOVEREIGN", possibly dated from as early as 1817 and maybe as late as 1842, there may be some dated later.

They were manufactured as "coin weights" to exacting specifications, since back in those days when coins were made from precious metals, the value of the coin was directly tied to the value and quantity of the metal it was made from.

When due to wear and tear or deliberate shaving off of precious metals, a coin fell below a certain weight as determined by the Royal Mint, it was withdrawn from circulation and melted down to make new coins.

The "ROYAL MINT" side of the weight should feature a lion standing on a crown with the date below.

The other side has "CURT WEIGHT" and "SOVEREIGN" with numbers in the centre. The numbers, 5 and 2½, refer to the weight of the coin. Above the numbers are tiny little letters. DW above the 5 and GR above the 2½, these are the units of weight, being "Pennyweight" and "Grains" respectively.

These types of weights existed for many gold and silver coins for many years, but the modern Sovereign and Half-Sovereign coins were only introduced into the currency in 1817.