British Colonial - Bombay: 1918
Sovereign - King George V

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the government issued Treasury Notes to £1 and 10s which replaced gold coins in circulation and the public were requested not to demand gold. On 1920 August 07th Gold Sovereigns ceased to be legal tender for use in Ceylon by Proclamation of King George V and the sovereign became Bullion. The Gold Standard Act of 1925 made currency notes nolonger exchangeable for gold.

SPECIFICATIONS
DenominationSovereign
MetalGold 0.916
AlloyAg/Cu 0.38
Diameter22.1 mm
Thickness1.5 mm
Weight Legal7.99 gms
Weight7.98 gms
ShapeRound
EdgeMilled
Die-Axis0°
MintRoyal, London
 19xx_george~v_1s_au_obverse 19xx_george~v_1s_au_reverse
Obverse : The bare head of King George~V facing left. Around periphery legend GEORGEIVS V D.G.BRITT:OMN:REX F.D.IND:IMP: . Mint Engraver Edgar Bertram Mackennal R.A. placed small initials B. M. in relief at bottom of the Truncation.
Reverse: St. George with Steamer flowing from Helmet, mounted on horse rearing right, slaying, with sword in right hand, the dragon on ground. Mint Year below the representation of ground, with designer Benedetto Pistrucci's initials B.P. to the right.

Note that King George~V, St George Sovereigns were minted with Mint mark on the representation of ground on reverse.
Royal MintStart End Mint Mark
London 1911 1925 None
Melbourne 1911 1928 M
Sydney 1911 1926 S
Perth 1911 1928 P
Ottawa 1911 1919 C
Bombay 1918 1918 I
Petoria 1923 1928 SA
Smaller head George V Sovereigns were minted from 1929 till the Great Depression ceased minting in 1932.

The coins that were Struck during the war years became part of the gold reserve of the Bank of England. Part of the considerable debt to USA was paid in Gold, and since USA cannot hold any gold coins, any of the coins recieved would have been melted into ingots. In 1929 and 1930 over £91 Million from Bank Reserve was also melted. This made the 1916, 1917 and 1925 Sovereigns from London Mint rare. However the Royal Mint restruck 886K 1925 George V Sovereigns between 1949 to 1952 during the reign of George VI, which made them common again probably to the dismay of numismatists of that time.

Ref: The Gold Sovereign. by M. A. Marsh.
1999, Cambridge U.K., 2nd ed. 118pp. Illustr. colour

The Sovereign was scanned at 600 dpi and displayed at 300 dpi It was obtained in USA around 2000.