Half Sovereign - Definition and Overview

The half sovereign was first introduced in 1544 under Henry VIII. It was a gold coin valued at ten shillings. 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. Modern half sovereigns, from 1817 onwards, have a diameter of 19.30 mm, a weight of 3.99 g, are made of 22 carat (99.1666%) gold alloy, and contain 0.1177 troy ounces (3.7 g) of gold.