Legendary: fewer than 100 minted. Sells often: 32 verified sales in the last 12 months.
5 Pounds - George VI (1937)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1937 |
| Denomination | 5 Pounds |
| Face value | £5 |
| Mintage | 5,501 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Composition | Gold (.9167) (917/1000 fine) |
| Weight | 39.900g · 1.1760 t oz |
| Diameter | 38.6mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Thomas Humphrey Paget |
| Rev. artist | Benedetto Pistrucci |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Uncrowned portrait of King George VI left, legend around.
GEORGIVS VI D:G: BR: OMN: REX F: D: IND: IMP:
St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date in exergue.
5 Pounds - George VI market value
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Affiliate5 Pounds - George VI price history
Daily limit reached5 Pounds - George VI value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
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| FDC | £4,000.00 🔒 | £5,000.00 | – | £4,000.00 – £6,500.00 | 0 | 7 | 26-06-2024 | |
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| UNC | £11,660.00 🔒 | £11,660.00 | – | £4,600.00 – £13,250.00 | 3 | 6 | 08-02-2026 | |
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| EF | £4,400.00 🔒 | £4,400.00 (1) | – | £4,400.00 – £4,400.00 | 0 | 1 | 07-09-2025 | |
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| VF | £10,190.99 🔒 | £9,890.00 | – | £4,048.00 – £25,440.00 | 3 | 10 | 06-09-2026 | |
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| F-40 | £7,310.00 🔒 | £7,310.00 | – | £4,100.00 – £19,360.00 | 3 | 9 | 12-09-2026 | |
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| G-39 | £7,224.00 🔒 | £7,224.00 (1) | – | £7,224.00 – £7,224.00 | 1 | 1 | 11-09-2026 | |
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| MS-64 | £7,600.00 🔒 | £7,600.00 (1) | – | £7,600.00 – £7,600.00 | 0 | 1 | 03-03-2024 | |
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| PR-60 | £4,500.00 🔒 | £5,000.00 (2) | – | £4,500.00 – £5,500.00 | 0 | 2 | 04-06-2023 | |
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| PR-62 | £5,676.00 🔒 | £5,466.00 | – | £3,800.00 – £7,049.00 | 1 | 12 | 06-02-2026 | |
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| PR-63 | £6,622.00 🔒 | £7,561.26 | – | £5,284.22 – £11,323.32 | 4 | 24 | 02-09-2026 | |
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| PR-64 | £7,500.00 🔒 | £7,524.44 | – | £3,650.00 – £11,352.00 | 6 | 25 | 06-09-2026 | |
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| PR-65 | £7,171.44 🔒 | £11,000.00 | – | £3,019.55 – £25,440.00 | 9 | 38 | 15-09-2026 | |
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| PR-66 | £18,000.00 🔒 | £19,627.09 | – | £18,000.00 – £19,627.09 | 2 | 3 | 01-04-2026 | |
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About the 1937 5 Pounds - George VI
The 1937 5 Pounds - George VI is a collector 5 pounds coin, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 39.9g and measures 38.6mm across. Reverse design: St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date in exergue.
5,501 were struck.
Common questions
How much is the 1937 5 Pounds - George VI worth?
Verified sold prices for the 1937 5 Pounds - George VI run from £4,400 to £19,627 across 13 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one. Its gold content is worth about £3,523 at today's spot price, which puts a floor under its value.
How many 1937 George VI £5 coins were made?
Sovereign Rarities and Coin Hunter give 5,501, and Baldwin's describes the £5 as the top coin of a four-coin gold proof set with a mintage of 5,501. All were proofs. None were struck for circulation, because gold coins had long since left everyday use in Britain.
Is the 1937 £5 gold coin legal tender?
Technically not. The Royal Mint Museum explains that the 1937 gold proofs were given a plain edge rather than a milled one, so they do not match the specification in the Royal Proclamation. Dealers therefore often describe them as technically patterns, although they were sold openly in the coronation sets.
Who designed the 1937 £5 coin?
Humphrey Paget designed the bare-headed portrait of George VI, with his initials HP below the neck. The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon, first used on the sovereign in 1817, signed B.P. to the upper right of the exergue with the date 1937 below.
Why does the 1937 £5 have a plain edge?
The Royal Mint Museum and Tony Clayton both record that all four 1937 gold proofs were struck with plain edges, unlike the milled edges of earlier gold coins. No published source explains the reason for the change, only its consequence that the coins are technically not legal tender.
How do I identify the 1937 5 Pounds - George VI?
Check the weight 39.9g and diameter 38.6mm and the metal (91.67% gold) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
The £5 piece was the largest coin in the four-coin gold proof set struck for the coronation of George VI on 12 May 1937. Wikipedia notes that gold had left circulation in Britain some twenty years before, and the Royal Mint Museum notes that by 1937 sovereign production in London and at every overseas branch had ended. The set kept up the custom of marking a new reign with proofs of every denomination.
Dealers and Coin Hunter give the same figure, 5,501, for each coin in the gold set, all of them proofs. Tony Clayton records that no further gold coins carrying the King's portrait were struck in the reign, so this is the only £5 of George VI. Its predecessor, prepared for Edward VIII, never got beyond pattern stage.
The obverse carries Humphrey Paget's bare-headed portrait of the King facing left, with his initials HP below the neck. The Royal Mint Museum says Paget alone was commissioned after the abdication and produced the effigy in little more than a month, a head since described as the classic coinage portrait of the 20th century. The legend reads GEORGIVS VI D:G: BR: OMN: REX F: D: IND: IMP:, which translates as George the Sixth, by the grace of God King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.
The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George slaying the dragon, with the date 1937 in the exergue and B.P. to its upper right. Unlike earlier gold £5 coins, the edge is plain.
Collecting notes
The plain edge matters. The Royal Mint Museum explains that because it departs from the specification in the Royal Proclamation, the 1937 gold proofs are technically not legal tender, and dealers often call them technically patterns. They were nonetheless openly issued in the coronation sets. Coin Hunter lists a much larger run of 26,402 for each silver and bronze proof of 1937.
Many examples on the market are graded and encapsulated, and one dealer listing notes light hairlines across both sides, so check the mirrored fields under a lens. The sister coins are the 1937 sovereign and the 1937 £2, sold in the same set. Do not confuse this coin with the Edward VIII pattern £5, which has a different portrait and legend and was never issued.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- George VI (modern sovereign), Royal Mint Museum (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Humphrey Paget, Royal Mint Museum (read 10 Oct 2026)
- George VI 1937 Proof Five Pounds PR62 DCAM, Coronation issue, Sovereign Rarities (read 10 Oct 2026)
- George VI, 1937 Proof Five Pounds Proof 63 Deep Cameo, Baldwin's (read 10 Oct 2026)
- UK Coins of George VI, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Five pounds (gold coin), Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- 1937 Coin Values, George VI, Coin Hunter (read 10 Oct 2026)
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