½ Crown - George VI 2nd type (1947–1948)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - George VI 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 1947 Half Crown - George VI 2nd type

The 1947 Half Crown - George VI 2nd type is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1947 to 1948, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). 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 2 years between 1947 and 1948, 93,076,100 coins in all. 1947 is the scarcest date, with 21,911,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The second type of George VI half crown exists because of the cost of the war. The Royal Mint Museum explains that silver was needed for industry and, above all, to repay the 88 million ounces the United Kingdom had borrowed from the United States. The Coinage Act, 1946 introduced cupro-nickel, and to make a clean break every cupro-nickel coin carried the date 1947. Issues to the banks began on 2 January.

The design did not change. A proclamation of 29 November 1946 gave the cupro-nickel half crown the same obverse and reverse as the silver one, still with IND IMP, and Wikipedia records the same 14.14 g weight and 32.31 mm diameter. Tony Clayton notes that all the cupro-nickel types were issued in large quantities.

Coin Hunter and Wikipedia's table agree on 21,911,484 for 1947 and 71,164,703 for 1948, a total of 93,076,187. The 1948 output is the largest of any George VI half crown. From 1949 the legend was shortened, so this type covers only the two dates.

The reverse, by George Kruger Gray, shows the Ensigns Armorial of the United Kingdom in a shield, with the King's initial doubled and interlaced on each side, surmounted by the Royal Crown. The 1946 proclamation repeats the inscription FID DEF IND IMP with HALF CROWN and the date. Kruger Gray's K and G are in the lower indents of the shield, K on the left.

The obverse carries Humphrey Paget's left-facing uncrowned effigy with GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX. The Royal Mint Museum records that Paget alone was commissioned for the portrait after the abdication. The edge is milled.

Collecting notes

The date is the only quick way to separate this coin from the silver half crown of 1937 to 1946. A date of 1946 or earlier means silver. The 1949 to 1952 type without IND IMP follows it.

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type. With more than 71 million struck, 1948 is the commoner date. The half crown was withdrawn before decimalisation, and the Royal Mint Museum records that it ceased to be legal tender in January 1970.