1/2 Sovereign - Elizabeth II 4th portrait, Diamond Jubilee

The Diamond Jubilee year brought an unusual concentration of special issues from the Royal Mint, and this half sovereign sits in awkward commercial territory — technically a bullion-weight coin with commemorative pricing. The fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley had been in circulation since 1998, making 2012 its fourteenth year on sovereign coinage before the fifth portrait by Jody Clark replaced it in 2015.

Mintage figures for this issue were not publicly disclosed in advance, a Royal Mint practice that became increasingly common after collector demand proved difficult to forecast during the Golden Jubilee decade.