United Kingdom: Coin Half Sovereign 1879 - detailed information
| Coin | Half Sovereign 1879 | |||||||||
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A gold coin (19 mm diameter with milled edge) featuring a young head of Queen Victoria facing left, hair filleted; around, VICTORIA DEI GRATIA, below, 1879. On the reverse, a garnished shield, crowned and lined, around, BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID:DEF:. | ||||||||||
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| Obverse | 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). |
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| Obverse Inscription | VICTORIA DEI GRATIA 1879 | |||||||||
| Reverse | 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. |
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| Reverse Inscription | BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID: DEF: | |||||||||
| Edge | Milled | |||||||||
| Edge Inscription | None | |||||||||
| Notes | 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. | |||||||||
| Source | Edition | About | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marsh, The Gold Half Sovereign | 1982 | Coin description | ||
| Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mint | Royal Mint London | |
| Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values | 1965 | Mint | Sydney Mint | |
| Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mintage | Royal Mint mintage | |
| Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values | 1965 | Mintage | Sydney Mint mintage |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Currency | Pound Sterling (pre-decimal) |
| Period | Pound Sterling (pre-decimal) (1801 - 1971) |
| Coin Type | Half Sovereign (Pre-decimal, Shield) |
| Issued | 1879 |
| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Effigy | Portrait by William Wyon (Young Head) |
| Face Value | 1/2 (x Pound) |
| Current | No (demonetised 1971) |
| Mintage | 255,201 |
| Material | 0.9167 Gold |
| Designer | Jean Baptiste Merlen |
| Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
| Shape | Round |
| Size (mm) | 19.3000 |
| Thickness (mm) | 0.9900 |
| Mass (g) | 3.9940 |
| Source | Reference ID |
|---|---|
| Marsh, The Gold Half Sovereign | 454 (Royal Mint London) |
| Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World | Great Britain 246 (Royal Mint London) |
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Great Britain KM# 735.2 (Royal Mint London) |
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | 3860E (Royal Mint London) |
| Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World | Australia 13 (Sydney Mint) |
| Marsh, The Gold Half Sovereign | 463 (Sydney Mint) |
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Australia KM# 5 (Sydney Mint) |
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | 3862C (Sydney Mint) |
| McDonald, Australian Coins and Banknotes | McD 019 (Sydney Mint) |
| Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values | H18 (Sydney Mint) |