½ Sovereign - Victoria
Australia • ½ Sovereign • Gold (.917) • 1871–1887
- Denomination
- ½ Sovereign
- Issuer
- Australia
- Struck
- 1871–1887
- Composition
- Gold (.917)
- Currency
- Pound
- Weight
- 3.994 g
- Diameter
- 19.3 mm
- Catalog refs
- KM 5
Where to find one
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Where it came from
The 1871 Australian half sovereign was produced at the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint, which had been established in 1855 to convert the vast quantities of gold discovered during the Australian gold rushes into legal tender. By 1871, the Sydney Mint was fully integrated into the British imperial coinage system, ensuring that coins struck locally were identical in weight, fineness, and design to those minted in London, thereby facilitating trade across the British Empire.
The coin features the Young Head portrait of Queen Victoria, designed by William Wyon, which had been the standard obverse for British coinage since 1838. The reverse displays the iconic crowned shield of arms within a wreath, a design that emphasized the stability and authority of the monarchy. These coins were highly functional instruments of colonial commerce, valued as much for their intrinsic gold content as for their role in defining the fiscal reach of the Victorian era.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
Who's collecting this
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About ½ Sovereign - Victoria
½ Sovereign - Victoria is a coin in the Coins catalog on collecto.rs. Australia • ½ Sovereign • Gold (.917) • 1871–1887. Catalog data is sourced from Numista. No collectors on collecto.rs publicly track this coin yet — adding yours would make you the first.
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Where does the ½ Sovereign - Victoria catalog entry come from?
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