Half Sovereign 1871, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

Head of Queen Victoria facing left wearing ribbon in her hair; around, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA; below, 1871.

Obverse 2 by Marsh (1859 - 1871): The bust is slightly larger than on earlier coins, the Queen's hair is noticeably nearer to the G in GRATIA, and the small strand of hair that came out from behind the bun has been removed.

No designer's initials W.W. at the truncation of the Queen's neck (unlike on full sovereigns).

Crowned and garnished shield quartered with the arms of England (1 & 4), Scotland (2) and Ireland (3); around, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF:

A small dot is shown just above the centre of the crossed lines that divide the Ensigns Armorial (unlike coins before 1859).

Below the shield is either the mint mark (if any) or the die number (for coins minted in London).

Known die numbers (as per Marsh 1982): 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 26, 33, 34, 35, 38, 41, 47, 50, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 81, 92.

Marsh lists the mintage of the Royal Mint London half sovereigns for 1871 as 2,217,160.

References to additional information:

[Book] Marsh, Michael A. The Gold Half Sovereign. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Coins, 1982. pp. 13-40.