GOLD SOVEREIGNS: HALF SOVEREIGN - THE SMALLER, SCARCER PART OF BRITAIN’S GOLD COINAGE

All this discussion of the sovereign has yet to mention the half sovereign, which was struck in various years and by London, the three mints in Australia and Pretoria, South Africa.

The sovereign, tariffed at twenty shillings was equal to a pound so it was considered the anchor of the coinage system. However, it was desirable for there to be a smaller quantity of half sovereign coins to bridge the gap between the full sovereign and the silver crown (which was worth a quarter of a Pound).

As intimated above the half sovereigns are half the gold weight of the sovereign - although not half the size as they are slimmer - and were generally minted in much smaller quantities which make many of them quite scarce today.

(on the left a Half Gold Sovereign coin compared to a full Gold Sovereign coin on the right)