? The 1889 Sydney is the key date of the series and one of the most underrated half sovereigns in the entire series; This was largely due to its mintage figure going unpublished in most catalogues despite Royal mint reports stating a mintage of 32,000 . The prices have come up to a more realistic level so perhaps the comment of this being a sleeper is outdated though there was a time when this date, although turning up very infrequently, would turn up at or close ...
? Figure 1: S mintmark above the date The 1915 Sydney is the most common half sovereign minted at any Australian mint with an S mintmark on the exergue above the date denoting Sydney as the place of mint . Figure 2: Dulled lustre within the exposed surfaces. Its striking during World War I and after the introduction of treasury notes ensured that a large proportion of its 892,000 mintage would never see circulation. As a result, typical examples can be found ...
? The Chinese Year of the Ox occurs every twelve years and the Royal Australian Mint commemorated this with a beautiful gold issue. The Chinese Zodiac is composed of 12 animals arranged in order from the rat through to the pig. The order was established by a race between the animals, thousands of years ago orchestrated by the Jade Emperor of China. Chinese astrology and the Chinese zodiac are commemorated by The Australian Lunar Coin sequence. The 12-year sequence features coin releases marking ...
? The Kruger Gray reverse design continued into this type, while after the coronation of Elizabeth II in late 1952, the obverse design changed to the bust of Elizabeth II facing to the right with the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA , designed by Mary Gillick. This legend was only used in 1953 and 1954, then was altered due to public outcry of the omission of FIDEI DEF . Both years are easy to acquire with some mint rolls found of 1953 , though they often have ...
? The 1887 Sydney are both of similar rarity to the 1886 Sydney in lower grades but in AU grades or higher, the 1886 Sydney tends to turn up far less frequently with 1887 Sydney Mint half sovereigns being available right up to Choice Uncirculated at the Reserve Bank of Australia Sale. Note that the mintage figure used for the 1887 Sydney is combined with the Jubilee Head types of the same year and mint. The 1887 Sydney isdifferentiable from the Melbourne mint type by the presence of an S ...
