Old Head Half Sovereign Values

Half Sovereign

Old Head (1893 - 1901)

The Old Head, also known as the Veiled Head, offers only one challenge to date set collectors, the 1893 Melbourne, the rarest circulation half sovereign with only 5 known examples, 2 in the Royal Australian Mint Museum. Other than that, the series is readily available in all grades up to AU with some examples in

Mint state

A state of a coin that shows no signs of circulation

mint state or better turning up from time to time. A lot of the dates, in particular in AU, have reduced in value considerably since the Reserve Bank of Australia sale (Downies, 2005), which saw an oversupply of such dates reach the market. However, very few higher grade 1899 and 1900 Melbourne

Mint

a facility that produces coins

mint half sovereigns were offered yet their prices were brought down also by most catalogues indicating they are somewhat undervalued.

Contents

Business Strikes
Proof Strikes
Glossary
References
Index

Reverse Designer

Benedetto Pistrucci

Obverse Designer

Sir Thomas Brock

AGW

0.1177 oz

Size

19 mm

Composition

91.67% Gold
8.33% Copper

Bullion Value

$188.99

Reverse

Obverse

Business Strikes
Coin	Mintage	Average Circulated
1893-M	Notes about Mintage Mintage figure combined with: 1893-M 13 pearls Jubilee Head Half Sovereign 1893-M 12 pearls Jubilee Head Half Sovereign There are 5 known of this type 110,024	$60K
1893-S	125,000	$210
1896-M	218,946	$210
1897-S	115,000	$210
1899-M	97,221	$230
1900-M	112,920	$230
1900-P	59,588	$240
1900-S	130,000	$210

Proof Strikes
Coin	Mintage	Typical Handled
1893-M Proof	3 Known	RARE
1893-S Milled Edge Proof	Unknown	RARE
1893-S Plain Edge Proof	Unknown	RARE
1894-M Pattern	Unknown	RARE
1895-M Pattern	Unknown	RARE
1896-M Proof	Unknown	RARE
1897-M Pattern	Unknown	RARE
1898-M Pattern	Unknown	RARE
1899-M Proof	Unknown	RARE
1899-P Pattern	1	RARE
1900-M Proof	Unknown	RARE
1901-M Pattern	Unknown	RARE
1901-P Pattern	4	RARE

Subscribe for specific values

The values listed here are for average examples of the date. Coins in better condition will be worth many times the values listed here. For example, an average 1911 florin is worth around $50, but in choice uncirculated condition is worth about $15,000! To view valuations in higher grades, please click here to subscribe.

Glossary

mint - a facility that produces coins
mint state - A state of a coin that shows no signs of circulation

Numismatic Glossary - View the full glossary of numismatic terms.

References

Downies, 2005. 'Australian Half Sovereigns'. The Auction of the Gold Coins of the Reserve Bank of Australia. pp 55-60

References - View full bibliography