How much is a Half Sovereign worth?
Specification
| Gross weight | 3.99402 g |
|---|---|
| Fineness | 916.6 (91.66%) |
| Fine gold content | 3.661 g |
| Fine gold, troy oz | 0.1177 |
| Diameter | 19.3 mm |
| Mint | The Royal Mint |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Face value | 50p |
| First issued | 1817 |
About this coin
Exactly half a sovereign in every dimension of weight, and the smallest gold coin most people will ever handle. Its low absolute value makes it a common gift coin, and it usually carries a higher percentage premium than a full sovereign because the minting cost is spread over less metal.
The christening coin
If the sovereign was the Empire's banknote, the half sovereign was its gift: christenings, twenty-firsts, retirements. Struck since 1817 at the same 22-carat standard as its parent, it holds 3.66 grams of fine gold in a coin smaller than a US cent. Because it was given rather than banked, an outsized share of surviving halves went into pendants, rings and bracelets - which is precisely how most of them turn up today.
The mount problem
A half sovereign soldered into a 9-carat mount is two different golds in one object, and buyers price it as scrap-plus-coin: the mount at 37.5% gold, the coin at 91.7%, minus whatever solder damage has done to any collector value. If the mount is claw-set rather than soldered, the coin can come out clean and be priced as a coin. Worth knowing before you sell: pound for pound, halves carry a noticeably higher premium than full sovereigns when sold as coins - small gold always does - so a clean half deserves a coin quote, not a scrap quote.
How this size compares
| Fine gold | 3.661 g |
|---|---|
| In troy ounces | 0.1177 ozt |
| In pennyweights | 2.35 dwt |
| Equal to | 0.5 gold sovereigns |
| Bars per kilo | 273.16 of these make one kilo of gold |
Questions people ask
- How much is a Half Sovereign worth today?
- Its gold content is worth $485.56 at the current spot price of $4,125.39 per troy ounce. That is the melt value - it contains 0.1177 troy ounces of fine gold. A dealer will pay under this figure when buying and charge over it when selling. Half sovereigns very often arrive in jewellery mounts, and the mount changes the arithmetic.
- How much does a Half Sovereign weigh?
- 3.99402 grams gross at 916.6 fineness, which is 3.661 grams of actual gold. The gross weight is what your scale reads; the fine weight is what it is worth. Multiplying the gross weight by the spot price would overstate this coin by about 9.1%.
- Who makes the Half Sovereign and is it legal tender?
- It is struck by the The Royal Mint in United Kingdom, first issued in 1817. It carries a face value of 50p, which is symbolic - the gold in it is worth many times that.
- My half sovereign is in a necklace mount - what is it worth?
- Two valuations in one: the coin at 91.7% fine (3.66g of gold when clean) and the mount at its own hallmark, usually 9 or 14 carat. Claw-set coins can be freed and sold as coins; soldered ones usually price as bullion plus scrap. Ask the buyer to quote the parts separately - a single blended number is rarely in your favour.
- Why is the premium on a half sovereign higher than on a full one?
- The same reason all small gold costs more per gram: fixed minting and handling costs land on 3.66 grams instead of 7.32. As a buyer that premium works against you; as a seller of a clean coin it works for you - which is why halves should never be sold at melt without asking for a coin price first.
- How current is this valuation?
- It is calculated live from the spot price, currently $4,125.39 per troy ounce from swissquote, read at 18:45 UTC. Nothing on this page is a cached daily figure.