British half sovereign coin
- British half sovereign coin
The half sovereign was first introduced in 1544 under Henry VIII. It was a gold coin valued at ten shillings or 120 pre-decimal pennies. After 1604, the issue of half sovereigns, along with sovereigns, was discontinued until 1817, following a major revision of British coinage. Production continued until 1926 and, apart from special issues for coronation years, was not restarted until 1980. It was also used extensively in Australia, until 1933.
Modern half sovereigns, from 1817 onwards, have a diameter of 19.30 mm, a weight of 3.99 g, are made of 22 carat (91.666%) gold alloy, and contain 0.1177 troy ounces (3.7 g) of gold. The reverse side, featuring St. George slaying a dragon was designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, whose initials appear to the right of the date.
Mintages
*1982 ~ 2,500,000
*1983-1999 ~ none
*2000 ~ 146,822
*2001 ~ 94,763
*2002 ~ 61,347
*2003 ~ 47,818
*2004 ~ 34,924
*2005 ~ 30,299
Trivia
*In 1843, while performing a conjuring trick for the amusement of his children, Isambard Kingdom Brunel accidentally inhaled a half-sovereign coin, which became lodged in his windpipe. A special pair of forceps failed to remove it, as did a machine devised by Brunel himself to shake it loose. Brunel eventually coughed up the coin.
ee also
*Gold coin
External links
* [http://www.coinsgb.com British Coins] - Free information about British coins. Includes an online forum.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
half sovereign — n. a former British gold coin equal to ten shillings … English World dictionary
half sovereign — noun Date: circa 1504 a British gold coin worth 10 shillings … New Collegiate Dictionary
half sovereign — noun A former British gold coin having a value of ten shillings … Wiktionary
half-sovereign — noun a former British gold coin worth ten shillings (50p) … English new terms dictionary
half sovereign — noun : a British gold coin worth ten shillings or 1/2 pound sterling regularly issued up to 1916 and since then only occasionally (as in 1937) … Useful english dictionary
Penny (British pre-decimal coin) — For the historic penny of England, see Penny (English coin). For the British penny in current usage, see Penny (British decimal coin). For silver pennies produced after 1820, see Maundy money. One Old Penny United Kingdom Value 1 Penny … Wikipedia
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half — n., adj., & adv. n. (pl. halves) 1 either of two equal or corresponding parts or groups into which a thing is or might be divided. 2 colloq. = half back. 3 colloq. half a pint, esp. of beer etc. 4 either of two equal periods of play in sports. 5… … Useful english dictionary
Farthing (British coin) — A farthing (meaning fourth part ) was a British coin worth one quarter of a penny and 1/960 of a pound sterling, slightly over a mill division in other currencies. Such coins were first minted in England in the 13th century, and continued to be… … Wikipedia
