Crowns have a long history, derived from a gold coin introduced by Henry VIII in 1526 to replace the Sovereign. The gold of that Sovereign was too soft, so hard-wearing crown gold was introduced. This has been the standard of British gold coins ever since. In 1551 coins of the same size and weight but made from silver were brought in. They adopted the name crown from the gold version and became the sole carrier of that name after 1662, when gold crowns were no longer produced.