Gold Half Ounce 2012 Britannia - Waves, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

Like many other mints, the Royal Mint issues bullion coins in precious metals, having much higher intrinsic value than their face value. The half ounce (1/2 oz) gold coins are denominated as Fifty Pounds (£50).

The coins are legal tender but are not intended for circulation. They are targeted at bullion investors or collectors who appreciate the special editions as pieces of art. The mint makes a distinction between plain "bullion" coins (issued in Brilliant Uncirculated grade) and proofs; the "bullion-grade" coins have textured backgrounds of both the obverse and the reverse designs and use the generic "authoritative" design, while proofs are typically "one-year" types. They are usually issued in parallel with other denominations/sizes having the same reverse designs.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Britannia range, in 2012 the Royal Mint re-issued all the earlier reverse designs for a nine-coin set of gold half-ounce (£50) coins, including this version where the portrait of Britannia is overlaid with a pattern of waves, which was first issued as a gold half ounce in 2003.

This was the last year when the composition was 22-carat (91.7%) gold alloyed with silver; the next year, it changed to 99.99% gold.

This half-ounce (1/2oz) gold coin was only issued in mint sets, in Proof FDC grade.