1 Shilling 6 Pence - George III Bank of England Token (1812–1816)

One row for each year the 1 Shilling 6 Pence - George III Bank of England Token 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 1812 1 Shilling 6 Pence - George III Bank of England Token

The 1812 1 Shilling 6 Pence - George III Bank of England Token is a circulating 1 shilling 6 pence coin issued from 1812 to 1816, struck in 89.16% silver. It weighs 7.35g and measures 26mm across. Reverse design: Legend above denomination and date within wreath.

It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The eighteen pence bank token was a Bank of England answer to the silver famine of the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Mint Museum records that, with the regal silver coinage neglected for decades, firms across the country were countermarking Spanish dollars or striking their own silver tokens. The Bank responded with official tokens for three shillings and eighteen pence, made by the Royal Mint at Tower Hill from melted Spanish silver and issued between 1811 and 1816.

During 1812 the design was changed, and this entry covers the second type, dated 1812 to 1816. Tony Clayton writes that none of the regular dates is uncommon. No year by year mintage has been published in an accessible source.

On the obverse the King is shown as a laureate head facing right, the neck cut off without drapery or armour, with GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX around. The reverse reads BANK TOKEN, 1s. 6D. and the date in lines inside a wreath, which a Science Museum Group record of an 1816 piece describes as oak and laurel. The wreath on the first type was oak alone.

Museum examples weigh about 7.3 g. The reverse carries no royal arms, only the words BANK TOKEN and the value, which marks the piece as a Bank of England token rather than a coin of the realm.

Varieties and errors

Dates run from 1812 to 1816. Clayton's tables separate the two types of 1812, so check the portrait to tell this type from the armoured bust type. He also notes scarce proofs. No mint errors are documented.

Collecting notes

Wear shows first on the hair and laurel leaves and on the raised lines of the wreath. Examples often turn up worn from real use, which suits a piece made to pay wages and change hands at a time when little else was available.

The Great Recoinage of 1816 made the tokens unnecessary: new shillings and sixpences were exchanged for old silver from February 1817, according to the Royal Mint Museum, and Clayton records that after 1820 bank tokens were accepted only as bullion. A nine pence denomination was prepared but went no further than a pattern.