½ Crown - William IV (1831–1837)

One row for each year the ½ Crown - William IV 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 1831 Half Crown - William IV

The 1831 Half Crown - William IV is a circulating ½ crown coin issued from 1831 to 1837, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 14.14g and measures 32mm across. Reverse design: Crowned and mantled shield of arms, date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 4 years between 1834 and 1837, 3,014,200 coins in all. 1837 is the scarcest date, with 150,500 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

William IV's half crown was first struck dated 1831, as proofs for that year's proof sets; the Royal Mint Museum's 1831 examples have a plain edge. Currency coins followed from 1834 to 1837. Coin Hunter gives 993,168 for 1834, 281,952 for 1835, 1,588,752 for 1836 and 150,526 for 1837, the year the King died, about three million in all.

Clayton lists a non-proof 1831 as well as the proofs, but no figure is recorded for it. Among the currency dates, 1835 and 1837 are the low years, the 1837 output being under a tenth of 1836's.

The obverse is William Wyon's engraving of the King's bare head facing right, after a bust by Sir Francis Chantrey, with GULIELMUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: around and Wyon's initials WW on the truncation. The Royal Mint Museum notes that his William IV portraits were based on Chantrey's bust.

The reverse shows the royal arms on a crowned shield set on a mantle, with ANNO and the date below. The Science Museum Group's record of an 1834 coin describes the quarters (England in the first and fourth, Scotland in the second, Ireland in the third), a small central shield that the record calls the arms of the Electorate, and the collar of the Garter at the base. The Mint's records credit the coin to Wyon and Jean Baptiste Merlen. The coin is sterling silver, 14.14 g, with a milled edge.

Varieties and errors

Tony Clayton notes that the initials WW are usually in script on the truncation, but rare varieties of 1831 and 1834 have them in block letters. Coin Hunter and Clayton also list an 1836 overdate with the last 6 over a 5.

Collecting notes

Check the initials on the truncation for the script or block form, and the last digit of 1836 coins for the overdate. The King's hair and the detail of the mantle and crown wear first, and CoinVarieties notes that only the 1834 is readily available.

The half crown was demonetised in January 1970, ahead of the other pre-decimal coins. The type that followed is Victoria's Young Head half crown.