Half Sovereign

The 1875 Sydney is a highly underrated date with probably around 500 to 750 pieces available. While the date is available in

Mint state

A state of a coin that shows no signs of circulation

 

mint state, it is very difficult to come by with probably fewer than 3 examples available. The Reserve Bank sale featured 5 premium grade 1875S half sovereigns with the finest being graded good EF (Downies, 2005). The

Reverse

The tails side of the coin

 

reverse of this date typically grades slightly better than the

Obverse

The heads side of the coin

 

obverse with the

Reverse

The tails side of the coin

 

reverse generally not receiving wear until the good VF to nearly EF level. An 1875 Sydney graded good EF sold for $14,000 at Noble Numismatics sale 87 which shows the high level of demand for early date half sovereigns beyond EF due to their genuine scarcity.