½ Sovereign - George IV (1826–1828)

One row for each year the ½ Sovereign - George IV was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1826 Half Sovereign - George IV

The 1826 Half Sovereign - George IV is a circulating ½ sovereign coin issued from 1826 to 1828 in the Half Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 3.99g and measures 19mm across. Reverse design: Crowned garnished shield of arms, legend around.

Mintage figures are recorded for 3 years between 1826 and 1828, 2,081,500 coins in all. 1826 is the scarcest date, with 344,800 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1891), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

George IV was unhappy with Benedetto Pistrucci's laureate portrait and asked for a new one based on a bust by the sculptor Francis Chantrey. Pistrucci declined to copy another artist's work, and William Wyon engraved the new bare head. Wikipedia records that the half sovereign also received a more ornate shield, and that this type was struck every year through 1829, the 1829 output probably dated 1828.

Coin Hunter gives 344,830 for 1826, 492,014 for 1827 and 1,224,754 for 1828. The 1828 issue is the largest of any George IV half sovereign date. Wikipedia notes that in 1826 Parliament barred banknotes under five pounds in England and Wales.

The obverse is Wyon's bare head of the king facing left, with GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA and the date below, as on the Royal Mint Museum's 1826 proof. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Wyon's coinage portraits of George IV were not entirely his own work, being based on Chantrey's busts.

The reverse shows the crowned shield of the royal arms with an escutcheon of the arms of Hanover, and BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF: around. Wikipedia's sovereign article records that the new Master of the Mint, Thomas Wallace, disliked several of the existing designs and had Jean Baptiste Merlen prepare new reverses. The coin is 22-carat gold with a milled edge.

Varieties and errors

Proofs dated 1826 were made for that year's proof set; the Royal Mint Museum's example (RMM 1309) weighs 3.98 g. One half sovereign dated 1829 is known, in the Ashmolean Museum: Wikipedia, citing Bull, says it was struck by the Royal Mint in 1891 from original dies to fill a gap in the Bodleian Library's collection.

Collecting notes

Tony Clayton notes that 1826 to 1828 is the only period with this obverse and reverse pairing, so any bare head half sovereign of George IV with a currency date belongs here. Look at the hair over the ear and the crown above the shield for wear, and check the milled edge for signs of mounting.

An 1825 bare head half sovereign is a pattern, not a currency coin. George IV half sovereigns were demonetised from 28 February 1891 with all pre-Victorian gold.