The 1918 Perth mint half sovereign is the scarcest George V issue and one of the scarcest Australian mint half sovereigns struck. Royal
Mint
a facility that produces coins
mint reports for the Perth
Mint
a facility that produces coins
mint in 1918 state that no half sovereigns were struck in 1918 however it does note that £7,327 of gold bullion was issued that year. It is possible that this refers to the 1918
Mintage
The number of coins struck of a particular designation
mintage. That would indicate that 14,654 half sovereigns were issued which would be consistent with the approximate survival rates of the era.
Perth
Mint
a facility that produces coins
Mint reports from subsequent years state that 56,786 and 53,208 half sovereigns were struck in 1919 and 1920 respectively. Many references seem to imply that these were struck using 1918
Die
A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin
dies but
Die
A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin
dies were certainly prepared bearing the dates 1919 and 1920. A total
Mintage
The number of coins struck of a particular designation
mintage figure of 109,994 would be inconsistent with the typical survival rates of the era given that an estimated 250 to 300 1918-P pieces remain.
The Royal
Mint
a facility that produces coins
Mint report however, does note that the gold bullion produced in 1918 was exported - this would seem to support the theory that the gold bullion produced in 1918 were in fact half sovereigns as all 1918 Perth
Mint
a facility that produces coins
mint examples originated from India. This is further verified by the complete absence of 1918 half sovereigns in the Reserve Bank of Australia holdings (Downies, 2005), built up from 1929 to 1971 indicating that the half sovereigns were not circulated in Australia. It is most likely that the half sovereigns produced in 1919 and 1920 were in fact dated 1915.
The 1918-P is typically quite poorly struck up limiting the grading to the MS64 level usually exhibiting a
Central strike weakness
A weak strike around the centre of the design caused by a lack of concavity in the dies relative to strike pressure.
central strike weakness similar to 1915 Perth
Mint
a facility that produces coins
mint (
Learn more about the 1915-P Half Sovereign) issues. The illustration below depicts the soft centre of a typically poorly struck up 1918 Perth
Mint
a facility that produces coins
mint half sovereign.
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| Soft central strike of a 1918 Perth Half Sovereign |
The 1918 half sovereign is without a doubt one of the most difficult half sovereigns to acquire in any grade and despite the minimal circulation experienced by the year, it is still nevertheless very difficult to acquire in
Mint state
A state of a coin that shows no signs of circulation
mint state with much of the
Mintage
The number of coins struck of a particular designation
mintage being mounted in jewelry or otherwise destroyed.
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