The series was first struck on Australian soil in 1871 following the short-lived Sydney mint series. The changeover to the imperial shield
Reverse
The tails side of the coin
reverse design half sovereign also coincided with the changeover to a gold-copper
Alloy
A substance composed of several metals
alloy for half sovereigns. The first type struck from an Australian mint, is the 1871, struck at the Royal mint, Sydney. Royal Mint reports don't mention any half sovereigns to have been struck during this year, however 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
The number of coins struck of a particular designation
mintage figure for the 1872 half sovereign (
Learn more about the 1872-S 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 XF or better can be very difficult though one Brilliant Uncirculated example was sold at the Reserve Bank Sale in 2005 (Downies, 2005).
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