1 Crown - Victoria 2nd portrait (1887–1892)

One row for each year the 1 Crown - Victoria 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 1887 1 Crown - Victoria

The 1887 1 Crown - Victoria is a circulating 1 crown coin issued from 1887 to 1892, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 28.28g and measures 38.61mm across. Reverse design: St. George slaying the dragon right, date and.

Mintage figures are recorded for 6 years between 1887 and 1892, 4,127,900 coins in all. 1888 is the scarcest date, with 131,800 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Jubilee coinage of 1887 brought a new portrait of Queen Victoria and, as Wikipedia's Old Head coinage article puts it, the first crown struck for circulation since the 1840s. Tony Clayton notes that the redesign included a decision to issue crowns on a regular basis. Officials hoped large silver coins would take some of the work of the costly half sovereign, and the crown was issued alongside the new double florin.

Coin Hunter gives 173,581 for 1887, 131,899 for 1888, 1,807,224 for 1889, 997,862 for 1890, 556,394 for 1891 and 451,334 for 1892, over four million in all. The 1889 peak reflects the government's use of crowns in its own pay packets. Wikipedia, citing Sir John Craig, records that by 1902 the crown's main use was paying dockyard wages, after which the coins went straight back to the banks.

The obverse carries Joseph Edgar Boehm's Jubilee Head: the Queen in a small crown and widow's veil, signed J.E.B. on the truncation. Baldwin's gives the legend as VICTORIA DG BRITT REG FD, the full titles on one side, unlike the double florin.

The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George on horseback slaying the dragon, the design he made for the sovereign in 1817 and which the Royal Mint Museum notes was extended to the crown in 1818. The date is in the exergue with B.P. to the right. Wikipedia, citing Coincraft, says the plume on St George's helmet was restored from 1887. The edge is milled and the coin is struck in sterling silver.

Varieties and errors

Coin Hunter and Clayton list 1888 with a narrow date and a wide date; compare the gap between the digits with a known example. Proofs of 1887 were made for the Jubilee proof sets. No mint errors are documented for this coin.

Collecting notes

The 1887 and 1888 dates have the lowest mintages, while 1889 and 1890 are the easiest to find. Look closely at the high points of St George and the Queen's veil for wear, and check that a coin has not been gilded or mounted: Wikipedia records that in 1887 some crowns were gilded to pass as the new £5 piece.

The Jubilee crown shares its portrait with the double florin, which was often confused with it. All crowns from 1818 onwards remain legal tender at 25p, according to Wikipedia citing the Royal Mint Museum.