6 Pence - William IV (1831–1837)

One row for each year the 6 Pence - William IV 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 1831 6 Pence - William IV

The 1831 6 Pence - William IV is a circulating 6 pence coin issued from 1831 to 1837, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 2.83g and measures 19mm across. Reverse design: Denomination across two horizontal lines below crown, all within wreath with date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 5 years between 1831 and 1837, 11,279,500 coins in all. 1837 is the scarcest date, with 506,800 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1980), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

William IV reigned from 1830 to 1837, and his silver coinage began in 1831. The sixpence was struck dated 1831 and then each year from 1834 to 1837; Tony Clayton notes that only one type was used during the short reign. Wikipedia gives the standard for sixpences from 1816 to 1920 as sterling (92.5%) silver at 2.83 g.

Coin Hunter's figures give 1,340,195 for 1831, then a large issue of 5,892,480 in 1834, 1,552,320 in 1835, 1,987,920 in 1836 and 506,880 in 1837, the year the King died. The total for the reign is about 11.3 million.

The obverse is William Wyon's engraving of the King's bare head facing right, after a bust by the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey, with the legend GULIELMUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D:. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Wyon's William IV portrait was not entirely his own work, being based on Chantrey's bust. The Mint's records credit the coins to Wyon and to Jean Baptiste Merlen.

The reverse is new for the reign: Wikipedia calls it a simpler design than George IV's, with the words SIX PENCE in the centre, a crown above, the date below and a wreath around. Victoria's sixpences kept it, apart from a short-lived design of 1887. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

Clayton notes that currency sixpences have a flat-topped 3 in the date, while a round-topped 3 occurs only on proofs of 1834 to 1836. The Royal Mint Museum holds an 1831 trial sixpence struck in palladium, and proofs exist for several dates.

Collecting notes

The 1837 is the scarcest date, with under a tenth of the 1834 output. Check the hair above the ear and the leaves of the wreath, which wear first. On 1834 to 1836 coins, look at the 3: a round top marks a proof.

The same reverse continued on Victoria's Young Head sixpence, so check the portrait and legend to confirm the reign. Sixpences were demonetised in 1980, according to the Royal Mint Museum.