6 Pence - Victoria 3rd portrait (1893–1901)

One row for each year the 6 Pence - Victoria 3rd portrait 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 1893 6 Pence - Victoria

The 1893 6 Pence - Victoria is a circulating 6 pence coin issued from 1893 to 1901, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 2.83g and measures 19.3mm across. Reverse design: Crowned denomination within wreath, date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1893 and 1901, 57,189,200 coins in all. 1894 is the scarcest date, with 3,467,700 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1980), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The Jubilee Head of 1887 had been mocked from the start, and after Joseph Edgar Boehm died in 1890 the Chancellor, George Goschen, set up a Committee on the Design of Coins. Thomas Brock's veiled portrait was chosen, and a proclamation of 30 January 1893 made the new coins current. Wikipedia records a far warmer reception than in 1887.

The sixpence was struck every year from 1893 until Victoria's death in 1901. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree on each date from 1894, with output between 3,467,704 in 1894 and 8,984,354 in 1900. For 1893, CoinVarieties gives 7,010,000 Old Head coins, the rest of that year's sixpences carrying the Jubilee Head.

Brock shows an older Queen facing left, wearing a diadem partly covered by a veil, with a necklace, earring and the Star of the Garter. Victoria did not sit for him; he worked from photographs, and George William de Saulles cut the hubs under his supervision. The legend reads VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP. The Old Head coins were the first British coins to carry IND IMP, for Empress of India, which Victoria had pressed for since 1888.

The reverse did not change: SIX PENCE within a crowned wreath with the date below, the 1831 design by Jean Baptiste Merlen as modified by Leonard Charles Wyon in 1887. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

Proofs exist for 1893 only, issued in that year's proof sets. No recognised mint errors are documented for this type.

Collecting notes

Every date from 1893 to 1901 was struck in millions, and Tony Clayton lists no scarce date for this type. The lowest figure is 1894. When buying an 1893 coin, check which portrait it carries: the Jubilee Head version belongs to the earlier Jubilee sixpence and is rare.

Sixpences ceased to be legal tender on 30 June 1980. The same wreath reverse continued on the Edward VII sixpence.