SYDNEY MINT (1 item)

The original half sovereign came into existence some fifty years after its older brother, the sovereign, was born. The year was 1544, the reigning monarch was Henry VIII, and although the hammered half sovereign exchanged hands as coinage until the reign of James I, it was not until 1817 that the modern half sovereign as we know it sprung from Tower Hill.

The Australian half sovereign series is a small one and spans only sixty-three years; nevertheless, it contains some of the rarest and most prized coins of the entire Australian pre-decimal series. Unlike the full sovereign, which was minted predominantly for export, the half sovereign spent most of its years as a circulation medium. Coupled with its relatively high value at the time, most half sovereign are found in worn states. Collectors on a budget benefit from general affordability at lower grades, while the connoisseur collector can spend years and thousands of dollars sourcing higher quality specimens for their collections. In any case, genuine scarcity means that putting together an attractive set of half sovereigns will take time and patience, providing the collector with years of interest.