½ Crown - George V 2nd type (1920–1926)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - George V 2nd type 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 1920 Half Crown - George V 2nd type

The 1920 Half Crown - George V 2nd type is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1920 to 1926, struck in 50% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32.3mm across. Reverse design: Crowned quartered shield of arms within Garter band, legend around, divided date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 7 years between 1920 and 1926, 96,119,100 coins in all. 1925 is the scarcest date, with 1,413,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

In 1919 the price of silver approached the point at which sterling coin would cost more to make than its face value. The Royal Mint Museum records that the Silver Coinage Act of 1920 reduced the fineness from .925 to .500, and that the Mint struck the new alloy for the first time in April 1920. This half crown is the 1911 design struck in that debased metal.

Tony Clayton says the new alloy did not wear well at first and was modified later; the museum notes three different .500 alloys in the first two years.

Coin Hunter and Wikipedia's Coin Yearbook table agree on every date. Output was high to 1923, with 26,308,526 that year, then fell to 5,866,294 in 1924 and 1,413,461 in 1925, the lowest of the type. Their 1926 figure of 4,473,516 covers both this portrait and the modified effigy introduced that year, with no published split.

The designs are those of the 1911 proclamation. The reverse shows the royal arms in a crowned shield within the Garter, inscribed HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE, with FID DEF IND IMP, HALF CROWN and the date. Clayton says this reverse was carried over from Edward VII's half crown.

The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's original bare head, signed B.M. on the truncation, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX. It is in fairly high relief, which the Royal Mint Museum says caused the ghosting problems that dogged the portrait. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

The 1926 date exists with two obverses. On this original effigy, Clayton says the B.M. on the truncation has full stops and sits further left; on the modified effigy it moves right and loses its stops. TreasureRealm adds that the modified border beading extends further inwards. Comparing a 1926 coin with a 1920 to 1925 example is the simplest test.

Collecting notes

1925 is the key date, followed by 1924 and 1926; the dates 1920 to 1923 are plentiful. Clayton notes that the early .500 alloy did not wear well. The modified effigy half crown has its own entry, the 1926 to 1927 modified effigy half crown. Half crowns ceased to be legal tender in January 1970.