½ Crown - George VI 1st type (1937–1946)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - George VI 1st 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; 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 1937 Half Crown - George VI 1st type

The 1937 Half Crown - George VI 1st type is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1937 to 1946, struck in 50% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32.3mm across. Reverse design: Quartered shield of arms flanked by crowned royal cyphers, legend above, denomination and date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 10 years between 1937 and 1946, 169,245,600 coins in all. 1938 is the scarcest date, with 6,426,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The half crown, worth two shillings and sixpence, was one of the coins George VI's new designs were proclaimed for on 18 March 1937. It was struck every year from 1937 to 1946 in .500 silver, the alloy in use since 1920.

Coin Hunter and Wikipedia's table, taken from Coin Yearbook, agree on every date. Together they total 169,246,221 coins. The output follows the war: 6,426,478 in 1938, the lowest date, rising to 31,220,090 in 1942. Tony Clayton notes that none of the dates is scarce, but that 1938 commands a premium for its lower mintage.

The silver half crown ended with 1946. The Royal Mint Museum explains that the silver in British coins was needed to repay 88 million ounces borrowed from the United States, and from 1947 the half crown was struck in cupro-nickel to the same design.

The proclamation describes the reverse as the Ensigns Armorial of the United Kingdom in a shield, with the King's initial in duplicate and interlaced on each side, surmounted by the Royal Crown. The inscription is FID DEF IND IMP with HALF CROWN and the date. The design is by George Kruger Gray, whose K and G sit in the lower indents of the shield. Clayton says it was adapted from the design prepared for Edward VIII.

The obverse is Humphrey Paget's uncrowned portrait of the King facing left, with GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX and HP below the neck. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Paget's Golden Hind design was first intended for the half crown before it went to the halfpenny. The edge is milled.

Collecting notes

1938 is the key date for a run of the silver type. Clayton also lists a 1937 proof and rare proofs for some dates between 1938 and 1949. The heavy wartime dates, especially 1942, are the most plentiful.

The date tells silver from cupro-nickel, since the 1947 and 1948 half crown keeps the same design. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type. Unlike the shilling and florin, the half crown had no decimal equivalent, and the Royal Mint Museum records that it ceased to be legal tender in January 1970.