The Wellington 250 Half Sovereign

Order your 1st Duke of Wellington 250th Anniversary Half Sovereign today for £399!

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Duke of Wellington, a new Half Sovereign has been issued by the Government of Saint Helena.  

Saint Helena, a small island in the middle of the South Atlantic, played an important part in the life of Britain's greatest military commander.  In 1805 he spent several weeks there with his brother as they returned home from a military campaign. Ten years later his great nemesis Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island after Wellington defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo. It is believed that the two men may have even briefly shared the same house, just ten years apart!  

After successfully bringing the Napoleonic Wars which had ravaged Europe to an end, Wellington enjoyed a successful political career, serving as both prime minister and foreign secretary. But it was his superb tactical planning, his coolness under fire, his sense of style, his dry wit, and his determination to succeed against the odds that has immortalised him as one of the greatest heroes in our nation's history. When he died in 1852, Queen Victoria described him simply as "the greatest man this country ever produced."

It is highly appropriate that the new Half Sovereign has been designed by the acclaimed international artist Angela Pistrucci.  Angela is the great-great-great niece of the Italian engraver and sculptor Benedetto Pistrucci who designed the first modern gold sovereign in 1817.  Benedetto was hired to do so by the Master of the Mint, William Wellesley-Pole, who was the Duke of Wellington’s older brother. In 1832, the Duke paid Benedetto 100 guineas to create a large marble bust of himself for his home in Apsley House, London.

In 2019, The London Mint Office presented the 250^th Anniversary Saint Helena sovereigns designed by Benedetto’s descendant to the descendent of the First Duke, the 9th Duke of Wellington at Apsley House.

Struck in 22-carat Gold to the highest quality possible - Proof, your 1st Duke of Wellington 250^th Anniversary Half Sovereign will be supplied in an elegant display case with an informative Certificate of Authenticity to confirm its provenance. 

Rest assured that you have no further commitments and your purchase is protected by The London Mint Office 14 day “no quibble” guarantee. You have no further obligations.