1 Crown - George IV 2nd portrait (1825–1826)

One row for each year the 1 Crown - George IV 2nd 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 1825 1 Crown - George IV

The 1825 1 Crown - George IV is a collector 1 crown coin issued from 1825 to 1826, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 28.28g and measures 38.6mm across. Reverse design: Crowned Garnished shield of arms with crest, legend around, banner below.

Common questions

History and design

George IV disliked the laureate head that Benedetto Pistrucci had engraved for his first coins and wanted a likeness based on a bust by the sculptor Francis Chantrey. Pistrucci refused to copy another artist's work, so the new coinage of the mid-1820s was engraved by Jean Baptiste Merlen and William Wyon. The silver coins took a bare-headed portrait with the date beneath it.

The crown had already been dropped as a circulating coin: Tony Clayton records currency crowns only for 1821 and 1822. This second type exists as proofs dated 1825 and 1826. The 1826 coin belongs with the proof set of that year, which Wikipedia notes also contained the double sovereign, and no mintage is published for either date.

The obverse is the bare head of the King facing left with GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA and the date below. The Royal Mint Museum says William Wyon engraved George IV's later coinage portraits, working from Chantrey's busts, so they were not entirely his own work.

The reverse, which the Royal Mint Museum records as BRITANNIARUM REX FID: DEF:, shows a crowned shield of the royal arms with the crest above and a motto scroll below. Pistrucci's St George was not used on the crown again until 1887. The Royal Mint Museum's 1826 example has a raised lettered edge, and Coin Hunter gives the regnal year on it as SEPTIMO, the seventh year of the reign.

Varieties and errors

Clayton lists 1825 as a proof date of great rarity and 1826 as the better-known proof. The Royal Mint Museum also holds a pattern crown dated 1829 (RMM 1313, ESC 270) with the same legends, which its record suggests may have been struck as late as 1873.

Collecting notes

Every genuine example is a proof, so look for the mirrored fields and sharp rims of proof striking; hairlines from cleaning are the usual fault. Check the date under the portrait and the edge lettering, and compare the strike with a museum example such as RMM 1312.

George IV's only circulating crown is the 1821 crown with the laureate head and St George.