1 Shilling - George VI English crest with 'IND:IMP' (1937–1946)

One row for each year the 1 Shilling - George VI English crest – with 'IND:IMP' 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 1937 1 Shilling - George VI English crest – with 'IND:IMP'

The 1937 1 Shilling - George VI English crest – with 'IND:IMP' is a circulating 1 shilling coin issued from 1937 to 1946, 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.

Mintage figures are recorded for 10 years between 1937 and 1946, 120,987,600 coins in all. 1938 is the scarcest date, with 4,833,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The shilling, worth twelve old pence, was given two reverses under George VI, one English and one Scottish, both struck every year. Tony Clayton notes that they were not distributed only in their own countries but circulated equally alongside each other. This entry covers the English design in 50% silver, the alloy in use since 1920, struck from 1937 to 1946.

Coin Hunter gives 8,359,122 for 1937. The lowest date is 1938 at 4,833,436, after which output rose past 11 million a year, peaking at 17,453,643 in 1942 on figures both Coin Hunter and Wikipedia share. Silver coinage for circulation ended with the 1946 issue, and from 1947 the shilling was cupronickel.

The shilling kept its place after decimalisation, as its value matched the new 5p exactly. The Royal Mint Museum records that shillings circulated as 5p pieces until the end of December 1990, when they were demonetised with the large 5p.

Thomas Humphrey Paget's uncrowned portrait of the King faces left on the obverse, with GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX. The Royal Mint Museum describes it as what has been called the classic coinage head of the 20th century. HP sits below the truncation.

George Kruger Gray's reverse shows a crowned lion standing on a large crown that divides the date, with FID DEF IND IMP above and ONE SHILLING below. His initials K and G sit at the top, either side of the lion's tail. The edge is milled.

Collecting notes

Check which reverse you have before looking up a date, since English and Scottish shillings of the same year have separate mintages. The 1938 English coin is the scarcest silver date of this design.

Proofs were struck for 1937: Coin Hunter gives 26,402 and Wikipedia 26,000. The Royal Collection holds a frosted proof. Tony Clayton adds that rare proofs of some later dates up to 1949 are known.

The same design continued in cupronickel on the 1947 English shilling. See the Scottish shilling for the companion reverse.

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.