½ Crown - Edward VII (1902–1910)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - Edward VII 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 1902 Half Crown - Edward VII

The 1902 Half Crown - Edward VII is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1902 to 1910, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32.3mm across. Reverse design: Crowned quartered shield of arms within Garter, legend around, divided date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1902 and 1910, 16,414,400 coins in all. 1905 is the scarcest date, with 166,000 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

After Edward VII's accession, a proclamation of 13 January 1902 set the designs for his silver coins. The half crown, worth two shillings and sixpence or an eighth of a pound, was struck every year from 1902 to 1910 in sterling (.925) silver, at the 14.14 gram weight the denomination had kept since 1816.

Output was very uneven. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia, which agree on every date, give 1,316,008 for 1902 but only 274,840 for 1903 and 166,008 for 1905, against a peak of 3,693,930 in 1907. Across the reign 16,414,810 were struck, about half the number of florins, and Tony Clayton names 1905 as the key date.

The obverse carries George William de Saulles's bare-headed portrait of the King facing right, with his initials De S below the neck. The proclamation sets the legend as EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX, leaving the rest of the royal title for the reverse.

The reverse shows the Royal Arms on a shield, crowned and encircled by the Garter with its motto HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE. Around it run FID DEF IND IMP and HALF CROWN with the date, and the edge is milled. Clayton notes that the design was new in 1902 and, unusually, was kept for the early half crowns of George V.

Varieties and errors

Half crowns dated 1902 were also struck as matt proofs for the coronation proof sets, with a frosted rather than mirrored surface. No other recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.

Collecting notes

A date run turns on 1905, with 1903 the second hurdle and 1904 also well below the other dates. Because the early George V half crowns used the same Garter reverse, check the portrait and legend rather than the reverse when sorting a mixed lot. The De S initials and the EDWARDVS legend confirm an Edwardian coin.

The half crown had no place in the decimal coinage. Wikipedia records that it ceased to be legal tender on 1 January 1970, a year before Decimal Day, so no Edward VII half crown can be spent today. The Edward VII florin was given its Britannia reverse to keep it from being mistaken for this coin.