1 Shilling - Elizabeth II Scottish shield without 'BRITT:OMN' (1954–1970)

One row for each year the 1 Shilling - Elizabeth II Scottish shield – without 'BRITT:OMN' 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; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. 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 1954 1 Shilling - Elizabeth II Scottish shield – without 'BRITT:OMN'

The 1954 1 Shilling - Elizabeth II Scottish shield – without 'BRITT:OMN' is a circulating 1 shilling coin issued from 1954 to 1970, struck in copper-nickel (75% copper, 25 nickel). It weighs 5.66g and measures 23.5mm across. Reverse design: Crowned Scottish shield of arms dividing date, legend above, denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 13 years between 1954 and 1966, 249,398,300 coins in all. 1959 is the scarcest date, with 1,012,900 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

This is the Scottish shilling of the shortened royal title, struck from 1954 after BRITT OMN was dropped. The Royal Mint explains that the words were omitted owing to the changing status of many Commonwealth territories. As with the English coin, regular striking ended in 1966, and 1970 shillings exist only as proofs, 750,476 according to Wikipedia.

Mintages varied far more than for the English version. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree that 1959 had just 1,012,988 and 1961 had 2,762,558, the two lowest circulation dates of any Elizabeth II shilling. Coin Hunter also gives 5,239,100 for 1964 and 2,774,000 for 1965, though Wikipedia prints 31,364,000 for 1965 and no Royal Mint figure is available to settle it. At the other end, 1956 reached 42,853,639. The thirteen years total 247,903,713 on Coin Hunter's figures, about two-thirds of the English output.

William Maving Gardner designed both shillings of the reign; Wikipedia notes he engraved them himself and later designed the decimal 20p. The Royal Mint describes the Scottish reverse as the heraldic Lion Rampant, the emblem of Scotland that also appears in the Royal Arms, and Coins of the UK confirms a rampant lion against the English coin's three lions.

The obverse is Mary Gillick's portrait of the Queen wearing a laurel wreath, with the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA. Coins of the UK notes that the 1953 bust was weaker than on later issues. The coin is cupro-nickel with a milled edge.

Collecting notes

Check for a single rampant lion and no BRITT OMN; three lions make it the English shilling, and BRITT OMN makes it the 1953 type. The date is then everything, since 1959 and 1961 are the dates to look for. Both were struck in the low millions, so circulated examples exist; for these dates especially, judge condition by the detail left on the lion's mane and claws.

Treat 1965 with care: the references disagree by more than ten times on its mintage.

Shillings passed as 5 new pence after 1971 and the Royal Mint states they were demonetised in 1990, when the smaller 5p was introduced, so this coin can no longer be spent.