The obverse and reverse designs of the five pound gold coin, as well as that on the sovereign, half sovereign, and two pound gold coin were special for 1989. This was to celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of the first gold sovereign in 1489. Half millennium anniversaries are quite rare, so it was quite appropriate to have special designs for this year. As you can see from our photographs, 1989 five pounds did not use the by now traditional St. George and Dragon reverse design. BU version.