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.
In 1980 the Royal Mint is issuing a maximum of 100,000 half sovereigns for world wide distribution. Of these, 90,000 have been reserved for issue individually and 10,000 reserved for issue in presentation sets containing the five and two pound and sovereign coins. There will be no circulation standard half sovereigns issued in 1980.
The proof half sovereigns will be struck using specially selected blanks and highly polished dies that strike the coin blank with extra firm pressure and the minimum of two strikes. The relief design is further enhanced by an attractive frosted finish.
The reverse design depicts the classic portrayal by Benedetto Pistrucci of St George on horseback slaying the dragon. The engraver's initials BP can be found on the base under the right rear hoof of the horse.
The obverse depicts the renowned Arnold Machin portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that has been used on nearly all United Kingdom coinage since 1968.
