The half sovereign is a British sterling gold coin with a nominal face value of of a pound, or 50 pence. First issued in its present form in 1817, it has been struck by the Royal Mint in most years since 1980 as a collector's and bullion piece.
The half sovereign was originally introduced in 1544 during the reign of Henry VIII but the issue was discontinued after 1604. In 1817, as part of the Great Recoinage, half sovereigns and sovereigns were reintroduced. Until it was discontinued as a currency coin in 1926, the half sovereign was struck in most years and circulated widely. In addition to being coined in London, it was struck at the colonial mints in Australia and South Africa. Exacting standards made it difficult to strike, and it was considered for elimination in the 1880s despite its popularity.
Production of half sovereigns continued until 1926 and, apart from special issues for coronation years, was suspended until 1980. Since then it has been struck for sale by the Royal Mint, although it does not circulate. In addition to the portrait of the reigning monarch, the coin features in most years an image of Saint George and the dragon, designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, first used on the sovereign in 1817 and the half-sovereign in 1893.
English coin (1544–1604)
Henry VII () revitalised England's economy following the War of the Roses. In 1489, he introduced the sovereign gold coin, which he valued at twenty shillings. Before the new denomination, the only gold coins being issued were angels and half angels.
Henry VII left a large treasury – the modern equivalent of about £375 million – to his successor Henry VIII (). The inherited wealth was dissipated due to Henry VIII's extravagant lifestyle and the war expenses needed to maintain a claim over France. These expenses led to the repeated debasement of the currency over the younger Henry's reign.
The half sovereign was introduced as part of Henry's third issue of coins, in 1544, debasing the coinage still further. The coin depicts a crowned King Henry sitting in his chair of state, holding his orb and sceptre on the obverse, while the reverse features a royal shield containing the arms of France and England, supported by a lion and a dragon. Henry's titles as king surround the designs on both sides, and HR (Henricus Rex, or Henry the King) appears at the bottom of the reverse design.
The new coin continued to be struck in the reign of Henry's son and successor, Edward VI (), initially with the designs of the previous reign, and later with a depiction of Edward seated in the chair of state.
The half sovereign was struck again under James I ( in England) beginning in 1603, and features a portrait of the king on the obverse, and a crowned shield on the reverse. The shield of arms featured on James I's coinage features the lions of England in the first quarter, that of Scotland in the second, the harp of Ireland in the third quarter and the fleurs-de-lis of France in the fourth. The legend on the coin proclaims James king of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, while the reverse legend reads "EXVRGAT DEVS DISSIPENTVR INIMICI" which translates as "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered" from Psalms 68:1. The letters I and R, for IACOBIS REX (James the King) flank the shield. These half sovereigns were only issued in very small numbers. In 1604, James I reduced the weight of gold coinage, and renamed sovereigns and half sovereigns as unites and half unites, in honour of his uniting the two kingdoms on the island of Great Britain. The renamed half sovereign was thereafter replaced by the half guinea.
British coin (1817 to present)
Origin
During the Napoleonic Wars, large amounts of gold left Britain, and worn guineas and bank notes were used for currency. After the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), Parliament, by the Coinage Act 1816, placed Britain officially on the gold standard, with the pound to be defined as a given quantity of gold. Almost every speaker in the parliamentary debate supported having a coin valued at twenty shillings, rather than continuing to use the guinea, valued at twenty-one shillings. One reason for the introduction of gold coinage based on the sovereign was that its value, equal to one pound sterling, was more convenient than the guinea. Nevertheless, the Coinage Act did not specify which coins the Mint should strike.
A committee of the Privy Council recommended gold coins of ten shillings, twenty shillings, two pounds and five pounds be issued, and this was accepted by George, Prince Regent on 3August 1816. The twenty-shilling piece was named a sovereign, with the resurrection of the old name possibly promoted by antiquarians with numismatic interests. The modern sovereign featuring the well-known design by the Italian sculptor, Benedetto Pistrucci, of St George slaying the dragon was proclaimed as currency in 1817, and minting commenced later that year. The new half sovereign instead bore a reverse design depicting a shield, engraved by William Wyon, possibly based on a design by Pistrucci, though the numismatic scholar, Howard Linecar, stated that Wyon was also responsible for the modelling.
The shield was a new version of the royal arms, bearing the quartered arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, with the Hanoverian arms surmounted by a royal crown. The kings of Britain also ruled Hanover between 1714 and 1837; the arms of Hanover depicted the armorial bearings of Brunswick, Lüneburg and Celle. According to the Royal Mint's historian, Kevin Clancy, in his book on the sovereign's history:
The half sovereign, proclaimed legal tender on 10 October 1817, became the smallest gold coin in regular use. The first issues of the half sovereign, depicting the bust of George III (), were issued dated 1817, 1818 and 1820, with none dated 1819, a year in which few sovereigns were struck. Few gold coins were issued in 1819 because of a proposal that gold should be retained in the Bank of England and only issued in ingots worth £233, a plan which did not succeed.
1820–1837 The first type of half sovereign minted during the reign of George IV () features his portrait engraved by Pistrucci wearing a laurel wreath on the obverse and an ornately garnished crowned shield on the reverse which was designed by Jean Baptiste Merlen. This initial reverse, issued in 1821, was quickly withdrawn due to its similarity in size and appearance to the sixpence, meaning that the sixpence could more easily be gilded and passed off as a half sovereign.
The next time the half sovereign was struck, in 1823, it featured a plainer version of the shield on the reverse, designed by Merlen, and Pistrucci's portrait of George. This version was also struck in 1824 and 1825. The king was dissatisfied with his portrayal, and Pistrucci's bust design was replaced beginning with some 1825 coins with an engraving by Wyon, based on a work by Francis Chantrey. Pistrucci had refused to copy Chantrey's work, and he had no further involvement with designing coinage. Changes were made to the reverse, which was given a more ornate version of the shield, and this was struck every year through 1829. The half sovereigns struck in 1829 were probably dated 1828, but one 1829 half sovereign is known, in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum. This was one of several coins struck by the Royal Mint in 1891 from original dies to supply the Bodleian Library with pieces to fill gaps in its collection. The George and dragon reverse vanished after 1825 from the sovereign, not to be seen again on it until 1871.
Half sovereigns were not issued for circulation during the reign of William IV () until 1834, though proof coins were issued in 1831. They were issued as well in 1835, 1836 and 1837. The obverse features a barehead bust of William IV, which was engraved by William Wyon from a model by Chantrey. The reverse is similar to the later George IV issues, with a crowned shield and mantle on the reverse which was modelled and engraved by Merlen. The 1834 issue had a reduced diameter, 17.9 mm (most half sovereigns measure 19.4 mm in diameter), though no change was made to the weight or fineness. It is possible that the diameter was reduced so that tools and dies for the Maundy fourpence could be used for the half sovereign. Mint ledgers from this reign record that £60,000 or 120,000 half sovereigns dated 1834 were recalled due to their similarity to the discontinued seven shilling or third guinea pieces. Some 1836 and 1837 half sovereigns are known with a slightly different obverse, apparently taken from the obverse dies for the sixpence. This may have been due to an error by the Royal Mint. It being a common fraud to gild a sixpence to pass it as a half sovereign, beginning in William's reign, the sixpence carried a statement of its value.
Victoria (1837–1901) Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and reigned until 1901; the first half sovereigns of her reign were issued in 1838. The first series of Victorian half sovereigns (1838 to 1886) feature William Wyon's portrait of a youthful Victoria on the obverse, and a shield reverse by Merlen with the Hanoverian arms omitted as Victoria, as a woman, could not become the monarch of Hanover. Struck at the Royal Mint in London every year from 1838 to 1885, excepting 1881 and 1882 (the mint was under renovation in the latter year), there are a number of variations over time generally dealing with the size of Victoria's head, the position and size of the legends and date on the coin, and whether a die number (used by the Royal Mint to track die wear) is included on the reverse. Some variations were intentionally introduced by the Royal Mint, according to Sir John Craig in his history of it, "to titillate the numismatists".
Gold was discovered in Australia in 1851, leading to requests from colonial officials that a branch of the Royal Mint be established there. After the Sydney Mint opened in 1855, half sovereigns were struck beginning in 1855. Half sovereigns struck at Sydney from 1855 to 1866 were not of the same design as struck in London, but, as the Royal Mint feared that they would not be struck to the same standard, stated their origin at the Sydney Mint as part of the design, and were not legal tender in Britain. Dies for these issues were prepared at London. As trust grew, the Australian coins were accepted as legal tender, and, beginning in 1871, Sydney used the same shield design as did London. The Melbourne Mint opened in 1873, and struck half sovereigns the same year. The Perth Mint opened in 1899, and first struck half sovereigns in 1900. The colonial mints used dies prepared in London and transported by ship, which included mint marks on the reverse for the issues that were otherwise identical to those struck in London: S for Sydney, M for Melbourne and P for Perth. In addition to the series struck whilst a branch of the Royal Mint, the modern Perth Mint has struck half sovereigns (with face value A$15) using the early Australian design, though with an inscription denoting their origin at the Perth Mint.