Great Britain, Victoria, Half-Sovereign 1893-1901, 3.66 g fine, vf

Victoria I was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901, and from 1876 also Empress of India. The long period of her reign is now known as the "Victorian Age". It was marked by a unique economic upswing from which the British upper and middle classes profited mainly. Victoria I is called "Grandmother of Europe" because she was related to many royal courts in Europe through the marriages of her nine children. For example, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II was her grandson. As on all later coins, Victoria also wears a widow's veil on this sovereign (minted between 1893 and 1901). She could never get over the death of her husband Albert von Saxony-Coburg-Gotha, who died in 1861.