Half Franc 2016, Coin from Switzerland - detailed information

The obverse, which has remained unchanged from 1875 to the present, features Helvetia standing on a platform, her head facing to the left. In her right hand (at the left), she holds a lance, and with her left (at the right), she props up a shield with the Swiss Cross at centre. In exergue is the legend HELVETIA.

There are 23 five-pointed stars along the rim of the coin, going from the lower left to lower right boundaries of the obverse. These represent the 20 full Swiss cantons and the six half-cantons, which are collectively represented by the three remaining stars. The tip of Helvetia's lance extends to the rim and separates the ninth and tenth stars in the sequence. Nine of the stars are engraved up to the lance, two between the lance and Helvetia's face, and 12 to the right of the central allegorical figure.

The engraver's signature, A.BOVY INCT. (an abbreviation for the Latin text "Antoine Bovy incidit", meaning "engraved by Antoine Bovy), is located around below, displayed counter-clockwise in small letters. It is split in two by the legend: "A.BOVY" appears to the left of "HELVETIA", and "INCT." to the right.

The reverse, which has remained unchanged since 1850, shows the value - a numeral ½, and a language-neutral abbreviation of the denomination, Fr., above the date: 2016 within a wreath whose left part consists of oak branches and the right part of various Alpine flowers.

Below the ribbon of the wreath is the mint mark B of Swissmint (formerly known as the Bern Mint, then the Federal Mint of Switzerland).

The Swissmint report lists mintage of 15,028,000 and also lists 10,000 "Stempelglanz" (brilliant uncirculated) coins in the year's mint sets, 10,000 in "baby sets" and 5,000 in "Christmas sets" plus 3,000 "Polierte Platte" (proofs) in the year's proof sets. It is not explicitly stated that coins in sets have been calculated into the main figure, but it seems to be the case.