Half Sovereign Gold Coin
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Half Sovereign 1817 Reverse
Half Sovereign 1817 Obverse
Half Sovereign 1910 Reverse
Half Sovereign 1910 Obverse
The Half Sovereign Gold Coin is a British gold coin that first was issued in 1544 for king Henry VIII, 55 years after a full sovereign gold coin, and it's still in production until this time. The Sovereign was equal to one-pound sterling, making the Half Sovereign to be valued at ten schillings or 120 pre-decimal pennies. As sovereigns, half sovereigns were officially more trade or bullion gold coinage, but still often used in transactions in the 19th century and earlier years.
The specifications of the Half Sovereign gold coin as of 1817 to the present are as follows:
| Gold composition: | 0.9170 (22-karat) |
| Gold content: | 0.1177 oz/td> |
| Weight: | 3.9940 g |
| Diameter: | 19.30 mm |
The design of the original Half Sovereign gold coin was similar to the full sovereign and the coin was bigger and heavier. Even the name "Sovereign" was selected due to its royal and imposing look. The sovereign coins originally showing a king seated on a throne on the obverse, and reverse had the Royal coat of arms on a shield in the centre of the Tudor double rose.
The Half Sovereign gold coin was initially minted in 22-karat, a gold standard called "Crown Gold", which is used for British and US gold coins at the present, and which was set by Henry VIII, when first half sovereigns were minted. The weight of the coin was changing, but eventually set to 3.994 grams.
In 1604, a new unit of gold British currency was introduced, a Unite, and minting of all sovereigns was stopped. Unites were followed by Laurels, and Laurels were followed by Guineas. After another reform in 1817, production of the Half Sovereign gold coin (as well as full sovereigns) was resumed again and continues to the present time.
The design of the coin was changed and now had Saint George killing a dragon, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci on the reverse, and a portrait of the ruling monarch on the obverse. There were other designs used to commemorate different memorable events, but half sovereigns always had the same design as its larger cousin, full sovereigns. In addition to the Full and Half Sovereign gold coins, there are also Double Sovereigns (gold Two Pound coins) and Quintuple Sovereigns (gold Five Pound coins). Starting from 2009, the Royal Mint started issuing Quarter Sovereigns.
You can see some current listings for Half Sovereign gold coins here:
