1 Shilling - George V 2nd type (1920–1926)

One row for each year the 1 Shilling - George V 2nd type 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 1920 1 Shilling - George V 2nd type

The 1920 1 Shilling - George V 2nd type is a circulating 1 shilling coin issued from 1920 to 1926, struck in 50% silver. It weighs 5.66g and measures 23.5mm across. Reverse design: Crowned lion passant atop crown dividing date, legend above, denomination below.

A mintage of 22,825,142 is recorded for one date of this type; figures for each year are not held. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The First World War left the silver coinage in trouble. The Royal Mint Museum explains that by the autumn of 1919 the price of silver had nearly reached 66d an ounce, the level above which striking sterling coin became uneconomical. An Act of 1920 cut the standard from .925 to .500 silver, and the Mint struck its first .500 coins in April 1920. Wikipedia notes the move followed a worldwide trend of reducing or removing silver from coinage.

The new alloy gave trouble. The Royal Mint Museum records that three different .500 alloys were used in the first two years alone, and Tony Clayton adds that the alloy was adjusted again in 1922 and 1927 because the coins looked poor after wear.

Coin Hunter's figures show seven dates totalling about 124 million. 1925 is the lowest at 5,418,764, followed by 1924 at 9,250,095.

Nothing in the design changed to mark the new alloy. The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's bare head of George V facing left, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX and the initials BM on the truncation.

The reverse is the Royal Crest as proclaimed in 1911: a crowned lion standing on a crown, with the date across it, FID: DEF: IND: IMP: and ONE SHILLING. Clayton notes it continued the Edward VII design, and the Royal Mint names George William de Saulles as the reverse designer. The edge is milled.

Collecting notes

Only the date separates this type from the sterling shillings of 1911 to the 1919 shilling. 1925 and 1924 are the dates to look for, being the two lowest mintages of the type.

During 1926 the obverse was changed to a lower relief modified effigy, so 1926 shillings exist in both forms. Clayton's test is the truncation: on the modified effigy the initials BM are smaller and set close to the back. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type.

Like all shillings, these were finally demonetised from the end of December 1990, as the Royal Mint Museum records.