1871 Sydney Young Head Half Sovereign About Extra Fine

Description

The 1871 Sydney Mint Young Head Half Sovereign is a coin that sits in a particularly rewarding area of the Australian colonial gold series – early enough to carry genuine scarcity and historical weight, yet not so rare as to be effectively unobtainable, and in About Extra Fine condition presenting with a quality of preservation that places it well above the circulated norm for this date. By 1871 the Sydney Mint had been operating for sixteen years and the half sovereign had established itself as a practical and widely used denomination in the colonial economy – smaller and more convenient than the full sovereign for everyday transactions of moderate value. Most examples that circulated did so thoroughly, which makes a coin of this grade a notably fine survivor.

Obverse: The laureate young head of Queen Victoria by William Wyon, with the legend VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D encircling the portrait within a crisp milled border — the Young Head portrait in the full freshness that only a lightly circulated example can retain.

Reverse: The crowned shield reverse design used on Australian half sovereigns of this period, with the quartered royal arms within a decorated shield and the date 1871 below — a heraldic composition of considerable dignity that rewards close examination on a coin of this quality.

Grade: About Extra Fine