1/2 Sovereign - William IV large type

William IV's half sovereign exists in two distinct types, and the large type was abandoned partway through his reign in favor of a reduced-diameter version — a practical concession to the persistent public habit of confusing the piece with the full sovereign. The Royal Mint had faced this complaint for years. The switch happened in 1836, making large-type examples from 1835 and early 1836 the product of a format already under review.

Spink lists this under two reference numbers precisely because the boundary between large and small types within a single year creates attribution difficulties that still generate disagreement among specialists.