½ Crown - Victoria 1st portrait 2nd type (1874–1887)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - Victoria 1st portrait – 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; 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 1874 Half Crown - Victoria – 2nd type

The 1874 Half Crown - Victoria – 2nd type is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1874 to 1887, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32mm across. Reverse design: Crowned quartered shield of arms within olive wreath, legend around, national flower emblems below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 14 years between 1874 and 1887, 18,539,100 coins in all. 1887 is the scarcest date, with 261,700 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

After 1850 the half crown was set aside to let the new florin become established. The Royal Mint Museum describes Treasury enquiries to bankers in 1854 and 1861 that settled nothing. A third enquiry in 1873 found a clear majority for keeping both coins, and in February 1874 Gladstone ordered minting of half crowns to resume.

The coin was struck every year from 1874 to 1887. Coin Hunter's figures run from 447,059 in 1877 to 2,982,779 in 1883, with about 18.3 million struck from 1874 to 1886. For 1887, when the Jubilee head arrived, only a combined total of 1,438,046 for both portraits is published. In weight and size the coin was unchanged at 14.14 g and 32 mm.

The obverse keeps William Wyon's Young Head, but Tony Clayton notes that a lower-relief portrait was used when the half crown returned in 1874. The Royal Mint Museum records that the youthful portrait stayed on the coinage until the Queen was in her late 60s. Clayton illustrates an 1881 coin with what he calls the Type 6 low-relief portrait.

The reverse is similar to that of the earlier half crowns: the crowned royal arms within a wreath. Clayton warns that the crown carried the same reverse, which can cause confusion.

Varieties and errors

Clayton and Coin Hunter list 1876/5 and 1876/6 overdates. Clayton also notes that proofs are known for many dates from 1874 to 1887, and illustrates a later reverse with a thicker rim and the U touching the wreath, against the earlier thin rim.

Collecting notes

The 1887 Young Head half crown is much less often seen than the Jubilee coin of the same year, according to CoinVarieties. Low dates to look for are 1877, 1876 and 1882.

The half crown was withdrawn ahead of decimalisation and ceased to be legal tender on 1 January 1970. The coin that replaced this type is the Jubilee half crown.