1 Shilling - Victoria 2nd portrait 1st type (1887–1889)

One row for each year the 1 Shilling - Victoria 2nd portrait – 1st 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 1887 1 Shilling - Victoria – 1st type

The 1887 1 Shilling - Victoria – 1st type is a circulating 1 shilling coin issued from 1887 to 1889, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 5.66g and measures 23.5mm across. Reverse design: Crowned Royal shield within Garter, divided date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 3 years between 1887 and 1889, 15,600,500 coins in all. 1887 is the scarcest date, with 4,034,100 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The Jubilee coinage was issued in June 1887 for Victoria's Golden Jubilee, with Joseph Edgar Boehm's new portrait of the Queen on all the gold and silver coins. The Deputy Master, Charles Fremantle, considered reverses that simply stated the value feeble, and revived heraldic designs from the past instead. The shilling lost the words ONE SHILLING that it had carried since 1831.

Wikipedia notes that the shilling was close in size to the sovereign, but was gilded less often than the sixpence because its reverse did not resemble the gold coin's. In June 1888, while inspecting proposed changes to the shilling, Victoria lobbied for her title of Empress of India to be added, without success at the time. In 1889 a larger version of Boehm's bust was approved, ending this first type.

No separate mintage exists for this type in 1887 or 1889. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree on 4,526,856 for 1888, the one year struck entirely with the small bust.

The obverse shows Boehm's Jubilee Head: the Queen in her small diamond crown and a long veil, with a pearl necklace, the Garter ribbon and star and the badge of the Order of the Crown of India. His initials JEB are on the truncation, and the legend reads VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITT REGINA F D.

The reverse shows a crowned square shield, quartered with the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, within the Garter bearing HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE. The date is divided by the base of the Garter. Museums Victoria notes that this design was adapted from George IV's shilling of 1823 to 1825, and Wikipedia credits Leonard Charles Wyon with engraving it. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

Proofs dated 1887 were struck; Coin Hunter gives 1,084. Museums Victoria holds an 1888 shilling with the last 8 over 7. The 1889 small bust is the key variety: CoinVarieties calls it scarce, while the large bust of that year is common.

Collecting notes

Check the bust on any 1889 coin against a confirmed example of each, since the date alone does not identify the type; the larger head belongs to the large Jubilee Head shilling. For 1887, CoinVarieties says the Jubilee Head is much more common than the Young Head. Wikipedia records that the new coins were in great demand as Jubilee keepsakes. Shillings remained legal tender as 5p pieces until 31 December 1990.