Royal Mint, 1998 Half Sovergein Gold Proof Coin

Description

The 1998 Gold Proof Half-Sovereign is an example of the Gold Half-Sovereign and is a gold coin, being as it suggests, half the value and half of the gold weight of a gold sovereign. Today, the half-sovereign is a commemorative coin, not issued every year and often only collected as part of a set.

The Half-Sovereign wa introduced a long time ago, in 1544 during the reign of Henry VII. However it was discontinued in 1604 (along with full sovereigns) and no more was minted until 1817. Production ended again in 1926 (1933 in Australia) and except for a few special issues during the Coronation years, it was 1980 when we saw half-sovereigns again.

As the value is half of one sovereign, that give the half-sovereign a face value of half a pound or ten shillings – 50p in post-decimal money.

The Obverse is the Monarch’s head (Elizabeth II) and the Reverse is the famous St George and the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci.

The mintage for the 1998 Gold Proof Half-Sovereign was 7,500 pieces, although another 3,500 were commissioned for sets.

Serial number may not be the same as that in the picture.