1 Crown - George IV 1st portrait (1821–1822)

One row for each year the 1 Crown - George IV 1st portrait 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. 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 1821 1 Crown - George IV

The 1821 1 Crown - George IV is a circulating 1 crown coin issued from 1821 to 1822, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 28.28g and measures 37.6mm across. Reverse design: St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date and.

Mintage figures are recorded for 2 years between 1821 and 1822, 563,000 coins in all. 1822 is the scarcest date, with 125,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Great Recoinage revived the silver crown in 1818, after a gap of almost seventy years, with Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon on the reverse. The Royal Mint Museum notes that the crown still failed to establish itself in circulation. When George IV succeeded in 1820, Pistrucci engraved the new King's portrait, and Tony Clayton records that crowns were issued for circulation in 1821 and 1822 only.

Coin Hunter gives 437,976 for 1821 and 124,929 for 1822, together just over half a million. Crowns dated 1823, 1825 and 1826 were proofs only, so this is the one George IV crown that was ever paid out as money.

The obverse is Pistrucci's laureate head of the King facing left, with GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: around. The Royal Mint Museum calls it a skilful, if somewhat unflattering, portrait, and Wikipedia records that the King despised it. In 1823 he asked for a new likeness based on a bust by Francis Chantrey; Pistrucci refused to copy another artist's work, and the later coinage passed to Jean Baptiste Merlen and William Wyon.

The reverse is Pistrucci's St George on horseback slaying the dragon, the date below. The saint carries a sword, the version used on the crown from 1818. The edge is lettered DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI with the regnal year in words, SECUNDO on the 1821 currency coins.

Varieties and errors

The regnal year on the edge is the main variety. Coin Hunter and Clayton list 1822 crowns with SECUNDO (second year) or TERTIO (third year), and an 1821 proof with TERTIO, which Coin Hunter describes as an error edge. Proofs exist for 1821 and 1822, and 1823 is a proof-only date.

Collecting notes

Read the edge first: the regnal word separates the 1822 varieties, and a filed or tooled edge is a warning sign. Wear shows first on the King's hair and laurel and on St George's helmet and the horse's head and chest. Crowns of this size were often mounted or polished, so check the rim and fields.

The second-portrait crown with a shield reverse, dated 1825 and 1826, was struck only as a proof; see the 1825 crown. All crowns from 1818 remain legal tender at 25p, according to Wikipedia citing the Royal Mint Museum.