The Half Sovereign series was first struck with the Imperial shield reverse
on Australian soil in 1871 following the short-lived Sydney mint
series. The changeover to this design also coincided with the changeover to a gold-copper
alloy for half sovereigns. Despite the design change, the 1871 was still struck at Sydney as indicated by the S
mintmark
under the shield on the reverse.
S mintmark under the shield indicating the Sydney mint
There are numerous reverse and
obverse sub-designs for the series but the 1871 Sydney is unique in that its design, both reverse and obverse were
not used on any other date in the series. The obverse can be differentiated by the I of DEI lining up with the crown of Victoria's
head and the base of her nose lining up with the base of the O.
Type I Obverse: tip of nose lines up with left long-side of 'O', 'I' lines up with crown of head
The 1871 Sydney reverse also has two other distinct identifiers: the
cross on the top of the crown does not touch the
rim, and the central
vertical line on the shield shows a single dot near the centre of the shield.
Reverse: the cross on top of the crown does not touch the rims
Reverse: single dot on the central vertical line of the shield
Royal mint reports do not mention any half sovereigns being struck
in 1871 but they are definitely known to exist and reports from 1872 indicate that 356,000 half sovereigns were struck at
the Sydney mint
(Marsh, M, A, 2004)
. It is likely that the
mintage
figure for the 1872 half sovereign includes the quantity struck in 1871. While the Young Head series consists of many
of the rarest half sovereigns, the 1871 is a relatively common year with about 1,250 to 1,500 pieces in existence today,
though finding them in AU or better can be very difficult. One Brilliant
Uncirculated example was sold at the Reserve Bank Sale in 2005
(Downies, 2005)
.
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