Half Sovereign 1879, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

Young head of Queen Victoria facing left, hair filleted; around, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA, below, 1879.

Obverse 4 by Marsh (1876 - 1880): Again the bust is increased in size as compared to earlier coins, causing the bun in the Queen's hair to almost touch the G in GRATIA and this time the wider front ribbon on the top of the head is replaced by one that matches the others in size.

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): 57, 88, 89, 95, 112, 119, 180.

Mrsrh lists the Sydney mintage as 94,000.

References to additional information:

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