½ Crown - George IV 1st portrait 1st reverse (1820–1823)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - George IV 1st portrait – 1st reverse 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 1820 Half Crown - George IV – 1st reverse

The 1820 Half Crown - George IV – 1st reverse is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1820 to 1823, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32mm across. Reverse design: © Heritage Auctions.

Mintage figures are recorded for 3 years between 1820 and 1823, 5,835,300 coins in all. 1821 is the scarcest date, with 1,435,100 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Tony Clayton notes that, unusually, half crowns dated 1820 were issued for both kings. Benedetto Pistrucci engraved the new King's portrait for the first coins of the reign, a portrait the Royal Mint Museum calls skilful, if somewhat unflattering.

Coin Hunter gives 1,435,104 for 1821 and 2,003,760 for 1823, the second figure covering both reverses used that year. It publishes no separate number for George IV's 1820 half crown. Wikipedia records that the King despised Pistrucci's portrait, and by 1823 a new reverse had replaced this one.

The obverse is Pistrucci's laureate head of George IV facing left, with GEORGIUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: around. IIII is how the regnal number is written on these coins, rather than IV.

The reverse, by Jean Baptiste Merlen, shows a garnished (ornamented) shield of the royal arms under a large crown, with a thistle and shamrock at either side and ANNO and the date below. Wikipedia notes that Merlen placed his initials, J, B and M, separately among the border beads at about three o'clock on the 1820 and 1821 coins. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

Clayton distinguishes two very similar reverses, 1a and 1b, which differ in small details in many places. 1a is used for 1820 and 1821 and 1b for 1821 to 1823. The Royal Mint Museum holds proofs dated 1820, 1821 and 1823.

Collecting notes

The laurel wreath and the curls above the King's ear show wear first, along with the crown and the ornament on the shield. To tell reverse 1a from 1b needs a side-by-side comparison with a reference picture. Look for Merlen's tiny initials in the beading on 1820 and 1821 coins.

From 1823 the shield changed to a straight-sided shield in the Garter; see the second reverse half crown. Half crowns were demonetised in January 1970, so this is a collector's coin only.