Half Sovereign: specifications, value and where to buy

The Half Sovereign is the smallest gold coin most UK dealers stock in quantity, and that is its main appeal: it lets you buy CGT-free gold for around £400 at a time, and sell part of a holding without parting with a whole ounce. The price of that flexibility is a higher premium per gram. Here are the Royal Mint's specifications, the live value, what four UK sellers charged today and how the coin is treated for tax in four countries.

What are the Half Sovereign's specifications?

Sources: Royal Mint product pages for the 2027 bullion and 2021 Half Sovereigns. The Royal Mint rounds the gold content to 0.117 oz; 3.6612 g is half the 7.3224 g standard of the full Sovereign and is the figure used in our price checks.

The Royal Mint describes the Half Sovereign as "struck to the same standard as the full Sovereign, but is half the size, and price." The weight, alloy and gold content are exactly half. The design story is a little different: Pistrucci's St George first appeared on the full Sovereign in 1817, but according to the Royal Mint the Half Sovereign only adopted it in 1893. Before that, Half Sovereigns carried other reverse designs, which is why some older coins look quite different from new ones.

How does it compare with the full and Quarter Sovereign?

Quarter Sovereign gold content calculated as half of a Half Sovereign; see its own guide for the Royal Mint's weight and diameter.

What is a Half Sovereign worth today?

The melt value is what the gold inside is worth at the live spot price, the wholesale market price for gold.

Spot-based melt values, not dealer prices. Last updated: Loading. For other amounts use the coin melt value calculator.

What premiums did we find at UK dealers?

A premium is the extra you pay above melt value. At 06:31 to 06:34 UTC on Monday 12 October 2026, we read the single-coin price for a bullion Half Sovereign on four UK product pages, using the price for a quantity of one. Spot from gold-api.com was £3,163.74 an ounce, so the gold in one coin was worth £372.40.

Premium = price / (0.11771 oz x spot) - 1. All four offered lower prices per coin for larger quantities. BullionByPost product pages blocked our automated check on 10 October, so we do not publish a premium for it. Updates: premium tracker.

Selling back costs money too. Hatton Garden Metals listed a buyback price of £356.73 on 11 October 2026, 4.44% below the gold value at that day's spot, and showed the same figure on the morning of 12 October. Buy at £396.76 and sell back at £356.73 and you lose £40.03, about 10% of what you paid, so gold would need to rise roughly that much before a quick resale to that dealer broke even.

See Half Sovereign prices at Hatton Garden Metals

Why are Half Sovereign premiums higher than full Sovereigns?

Most of a coin's cost above its gold, such as striking, quality checks, capsules, insured postage and the dealer's handling, is roughly the same per coin whatever its size. Spread over half the gold, those costs become a bigger percentage. The comparison below uses the same sellers' prices for a full Sovereign from the GoldVetted price check on 10 October 2026.

Spot was £3,171.03 on 10 October and £3,163.74 on 12 October, so the cash gap between two halves and one full coin would have been slightly wider on the same day. Full Sovereign figures: gold Sovereign guide.

Two Half Sovereigns cost between £6 and £26 more than one full Sovereign at these sellers. Whether that is worth paying depends on how you plan to sell. If you expect to sell in small amounts, or want to give coins as gifts, the smaller unit can be useful. If you simply want the most gold for your money, full Sovereigns, a 1 oz Britannia or a bar cost less per gram; our gold coins vs gold bars guide sets out the trade-off.

How are Half Sovereigns taxed in the UK, US, Canada and Australia?

United Kingdom. HMRC's Capital Gains Manual says sterling currency is exempt from Capital Gains Tax under section 21 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, and names Sovereigns minted in 1837 or later as an example. The Royal Mint states that Half Sovereigns are exempt from CGT for UK residents because they are legal tender. A coin that is not legal tender is treated as a chattel (a personal possession) instead, as HMRC explains for pre-1837 coins. The details, and how this compares with bars, are in our UK gold tax rules (CGT-free coins). Because each coin is worth only around £400, the Half Sovereign is also a convenient way to keep individual sales small.

Outside the UK. The 22 carat alloy counts against the coin. Canada and Australia exempt only gold of at least 99.5% purity from sales tax, so a Half Sovereign attracts GST or HST there. In the US it is taxed like other coins and cannot be held in an IRA, because 26 USC 408(m) only allows named US coins or 99.5% bullion.

How do you spot a fake Half Sovereign?

• Weight and size: 3.99 g and 19.30 mm. You need a scale that reads to 0.01 g, because a light fake may be only a few tenths of a gram out.
• Date and monarch: check that the portrait matches the date, and that the reverse design is right for the year (Pistrucci's St George has been used on Half Sovereigns since 1893; earlier coins carry other designs).
• Colour: a warm, slightly reddish yellow from the copper in the 22 carat alloy.
• Detail and edge: the horse, dragon and lettering should be sharp, and the milled edge even all round.
• Test before paying a premium: for older or collectable dates, ask the dealer whether the coin has been XRF tested (an X-ray scan of the surface metal).

More checks: how to tell if gold is real.

Which years and variants of the Half Sovereign exist?

For gold content, the date makes no difference: every modern Half Sovereign holds 3.6612 g. Proofs and rare dates are collector items and seldom resell for their full premium. Read bullion vs numismatic coins before paying extra.

Where can you buy Half Sovereigns?

In the UK, Half Sovereigns are sold by the Royal Mint and by dealers including Hatton Garden Metals, Chards, Atkinsons Bullion and BullionByPost. Best-value listings are cheaper than the current year for the same gold. Outside the UK the coin is less common, and sales tax in Canada and Australia makes a 99.99% coin cheaper overall. If you are choosing between British coins, compare the Sovereign vs Britannia.

Pros and cons of the Half Sovereign

For other first-time options, see our best gold coins for beginners or browse all gold coin guides.

Not financial advice. GoldVetted provides general information to help you compare options. It is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Gold prices go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay. Check tax rules with the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.