The Joy and Wonder of Half Crowns

Just a fun thread on my favourite coin type - The Halfcrown, some historical essays but no deep intellectual debate, just juicy images of my Halfcrown collection and some of yours too.

It is the coin that gives me the most joy and joy is CONTAGIOUS so I want to share it with you!
(PS - If you want to be negative and point out errors or troll, please do it somewhere else, I want the mood to be as sunny and stunning as those two SHIMMERING coins below)


Just two of my beautiful HALFCROWNS

What is a Halfcrown? (Just in case you may not know)

It is a coin in the British sterling pound system. Predecimal and is basically worth 30 pennies or 2 shillings and sixpence. It is 1/8 of a Pound and was the half of a large silver crown (5 shillings = 60 pennies or one of those large Silver Thaler/Daler/Coins). Usually they were made out of silver and were 32mm in size and weighed about 14 grams after 1816. Before that era they weighed more (15 - 16 grams) and the earliest ones were tiny Gold coins weighing about 1.5grams.

A modern contemporary is that these coins are much larger than any Euro coin and just a bit larger than a American Half dollar coin.

Brief History that extends into like 20 posts

Half Crowns had been a unit of currency since the early middle ages, but the first Half crown coin was not made until 1544 in the third coinage of King Henry VIII of England (1509 - 1547). these early Half crowns were gold and were very rare. In 1551 the first silver Halfcrown was made and all of these coins through to the 1660s (Excusing a couple from 1631) were hammered coins. Gold Halfcrowns were last issued in the reign of James I (1603 - 1625).


My oldest Halfcrowns (1635/6, 1656, 1670, 1709 and 1745)

My oldest one is from Charles I (1625 - 1649) and is a hammered coin showing the king on horseback, it is undated except for a mint mark of a Crown which was used in 1635/36).

1635/36 Charles I

This coin is quite rare and very nice with a elaborate shield and modern written, it has been double struck as hammering was quite weak. One of my favourite pieces.

My next oldest and most valuable Half crown is a Commonwealth one from 1656 issued during the time, England had no King and Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector. The coin is known as a design of "Breeches money" due to the combined shields.

Commonwealth 1656

The legend is in English, yet value expressed in Roman Numerals a Large II and small VI for 2/6. The coin is quite poorly hammered, although these were clipped too. I suspect it was in a PVC flip for sometime explaining the blue splotches - may use some acetone to get rid of it.

More coming in later posts

That first "thumbs up" was mine! Envy is one of the seven deadly sins so I really ought to avoid this topic but of course I won't. That's a magnificent collection and one I look forward to seeing more of.

THE LATER STUART AND EARLY GEORGIAN ERA - TECHNOLOGY INTRUDES

The coins through the time of Charles I and the Commonwealth were varied with many mints and types including diamond shaped siege coins from Newark and other places and silver coins up to the value of a whole pound. However by 1660 things had calmed down.


1670 Milled Halfcrown of Charles II (All coin photos unless indicated courtesy Moneytane)

Milled coins took over from hammered ones through the 1660s and the restoration of Charles II (1660 - 1685). The first few series of coins were hammered, but starting in 1662, each denomination was made with a screw press which gave a coin with a proper rim that was engraved with the regnal year and stopped clippers who shaved bits of coins to make more coins!

In 1663, the first Halfcrowns like this were issued. Some milled patterns were issued under the last coinages of the Commonwealth (1656 - 1658) but are very rare. The coins also had a new reverse with 4 crowned shields radiating out from the centre which was a garter buckle. Legends in Latin and a date covered both sides. These coins were a vast improvement on the hammered pieces of before, but still not perfectly round - that came in 1816.

Halfcrowns of Charles II are fairly plentiful and there are 4 major types - my one is a Type 2 and has the regnal year of Vicesimo Primo (21 - they counted years from 1649 not 1660). The coins of James II (1685 - 1688) were less so as he was unpopular, but kept the similar obverse. Also each monarch faced in an opposite direction from the last.

The Halfcrowns of King William III and Mary II (1689 - 1694) featured a single crowned shield as well as the 4 shields and a date number on each. Mary died in 1694 and later William coins had a similar reverse as the Charles II ones. There was a lot of minting at the time during a period between 1696 and 1700 when all the old clipped coins in circulation then (Some as far back as the 1540s) were replaced by new coins. This was supervised by Sir Isaac Newton (1632 - 1723) master of the mint then.


Queen Anne 1709 Post Union coin

The reign of Anne (1702 - 1714) saw a similar design, but the arms changed slightly as the Kingdoms of England and Scotland were joined by Union in 1707. Now they were on a combined shield along with shields of France (Fleur de Lis) and Ireland (Harp).

With the death of Anne in 1714, it spelled the end of the Stuart dynasty and the tenuous link to French sovereignity. This goes back to Henrietta Maria who married Charles the First, making Charles the Second and James the second Half French, but they never had claim to the throne of France under the powerful Louis XIV.

As we reach the Georgian era, one English shield changes to one of Hanover. The new King George I was a great grandson of James I, whose daughter Elizabeth (b 1598) married the elector the Palatine, whose Daughter Sophia had a son George who was King of Hanover and he became King of England in 1714. Outwardly the designs and technology of Georgian Halfcrowns remained the same.


George II, Lima halfcrown 1746

These designs continued to George II (1727 - 1760) and still showed a French shield which seems bizarre as these German princes had no claim to France and no part of France had been occupied by the British since 1559. Yet non stop fighting between the two powers continued.

Good silver was issued through both reigns and the 1723 coins had SSC on them due to a company that went belly up at the time, the 1745/46 coins had Lima on them, as the silver was captured off a Spanish silver fleet at Lima in 1745 by Captain Anson.

Sadly after 1750, there were no more Halfcrowns until 1816 - English coinage got really patchy and there were only sporadic issues of various low denominations up to One shilling and fractional guineas through the later 1700s and into the 1800s.

I have only a few, in average condition ...

[1903, scarce]
[1904]
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces12799.html

[1961, mule]
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces87695.html

The Late Georgian Revival

Things got going again in the early 1800s with steam technology seeing a range of coins made on perfectly circular blanks.


1797 Cartwheel Tuppence - Steam press coin

These included Cartwheel pennies and tuppence in 1797 and then a range of Halfpennies and Farthings in the 1799 and 1806/7 period. By 1810, they were making bank tokens in values up to 5/6 and included a 3/- close to the Halfcrown.

Finally in 1815, Boulton and Watt got to open a mint in London and the Royal Mint was rebuilt with these machines installed ready to go for 1816. What followed was a thoroughly modern coinage range from ¼ farthings up to £5 gold coins (Regular currency Farthings to Sovereigns) and these included the first new Halfcrowns since 1750.


1816 Halfcrown the first modern one with the "Bull Head" portrait

These coins were perfectly round and weighed 14.32grams and were 32.16mm in size and had 13 grams of silver in them. Designs followed the basic crowned shield with 5 coats of arms on it (Hanover central, England twice, Ireland and Scotland) now as the 1801 act of union included Ireland and French motifs no longer appeared.

It was not all peaches and cream though, George III (Born 1738 - King 1760 - 1820)was near the end of his reign and some 78 years old when this coin came out, he was King in name only with his son (George IV born 1762 died 1830) acting as regent. It seemed mad King George got madder when he saw that "Bull head" portrait and a softer portrait of him appeared in 1817.

Incredibly Halfcrowns were issued every year 1816 to 1820 and 1820 coins had George IV on them, even though he had not been crowned yet - 1820 shillings still had King George III


1820 Shilling shows 2nd KG3 portrait (A 1818 Halfcrown has been kindly shown in another post - thanks)

The halfcrown at this period was the effective highest value silver coin in circulation although Crowns (5/-) were issued for circulation between 1816 - 1825 and 1839 - 1847 along with 1887 - 1901 but never in numbers like the Half crown - making it effectively the main coin between the One shilling and Half sovereign (10/-) in gold.

People of all classes used them and they were pretty much the 10 Euro note and $20 note of the time, this was an important denomination. It held supreme until the Florin came along.

Zac, those are great as I don't have any 1903/05 ones yet (But do have every year from 1906 to 1958 and a good selection 1887 - 1902). Once my history lesson is over, we will just have a post your halfcrowns page.

I love the Irish one too - I am going to discuss those when we get through with UK, NZ and South Africa.

THE REGENCY ERA.


Most of my 19th century Halfcrowns (I have more arriving soon)
Top row 1816, 1823, 1825, 1834 - Bottom row 1836, 1845, 1893

There were no less than 3 designs during George IV's brief reign of 10 years. All 3 contained shields and were very elaborate and overdone. I don't have the first type issued between 1820 and 1823 and is very scarce. I do have the 2nd type though and 2 coins of the common 3rd type.
UPDATE - Alfonz has shown an example of this type a few posts down - thanks Alfonz.


Type 2 George IV 1823 - 1825 (Good Fine, one of my few decent George IV coins)

Type 1 and Type 2show elaborate shield with the date as "Anno 182-" on the reverse and a fleshy bewreathed portrait of the king on the otherside. My coin is Fine and these are pretty expensive in perfect condition. Even still it cost me over $100 NZD.


Type 3 - George IV - showing the less jowly and elaborate design

The third type issued between 1825 and 1829 showed a less elaborate shield and George seems to have lost a bit of weight and jowls (In real life he was a fat self indulgent slob). Still he had some taste when it came to Regency frippery. Like Edward VII, he was a king who loved to have a good time, fathering up some 12 illegitimate children, yet only one legitimate daughter who died very young.

A painting of this King also shows him with a somewhat reduced waist. He was a very vain man and the model of the Regency Dandy, even if he was old enough to be a Georgian Macaroni back in the 1780s too! Beau Brumell eat your heart out. Fortunately his damage on the country was low and the Constitutional Monarchy, meant this big fat idiot was left to his own devices, with women, food, medieval pageants and playing Arabian nights dress up at his Pavilion in Brighton.

1825 and 1826 are common dates of this design of which I have both, however 1828 and 1829 are very rare with limited numbers. No Halfcrowns were issued in 1827 or 1830.



William IV Halfcrowns - just one type and so far I only have really worn ones.

The next king was George's younger brother William Duke of Clarence (b 1765 died 1837) and he was the opposite to his brother, still a tubby man - William was a spendthrift and short tempered and yet he had a heart, loving his younger wife (Although he was a philanderer in his younger days) and many great reforms passed under his short reign (The abolition of slavery in the British Empire, The great reform act of 1832). He also deliberately had a cheap coronation as he knew the country was haemorraging money, and knew he was an old man who would have a short reign with his niece Victoria waiting in the wings.

His coins were still elaborate witha curtain draped frame and the "Anno 183-" gimmick. His coins also miss the Honi soi mal ye pense logo that ahd appeared since 1816 (Evil comes to those who think evil). There was only one type and 1831 proofs and issued coins are rare, 1834, 35, 36 and 37 are all fairly common with 1834 and 1836 being easy to get.

NOTES - I have only been serious about Half crowns since Oct 2019 (I say this if you are reading this thread in say 2023) and my collection before 1906 is in its "BEGINNING" stages. I will add to it as I get more coins - but for now I apologise for my mediocre collection from this era.

'Once my history lesson is over, we will just have a post your halfcrowns page'.

Ah, I thought that was what this page is. From
'no essays or deep intellectual debate, just juicy images of
my Halfcrown collection and some of yours too'.

Oh, also, I cannot wait for someone to start a Crowns topic - I have a lot.

Sorry I got carried away with History again and no doubt a couple of mistakes too.
Expecting fun and we get the Oxford extended history of coins

I hear what you are saying, we can have people doing Shillings, pennies, sovereigns any type you can think of - but for me I will just manage my Halfcrowns.

Let me make it up to you, before I give you the low down on Queen Victoria and the 4 kings tomorrow.

Pictures will enlarge

I call this "Halfcrown Party" Its most of my 1902 - 1946 Halfcrowns of the UK - better and more detailed images coming tomorrow.

Its 10pm here and I need some kip before work tomorrow when I get up at 2am.

Some more eye candy - some New Zealand Duplicate shiners I could not turn down.
Look at those stunners!

Nice topic and coins! Here a humble addition from my collection I think to not have seen yet in the topic:
George IV Halfcrown 1821 (First type):

Thanks, I didn't have that coin, so are really glad you showed it. It's very hard for me to get that date.

Just a short post, will deal with Vicky when I get up.

It looks like I have only 6 UK half crowns: 1818, 1887, 1889 (enameled), 1917, 1940, and 1953.

1818:

That coin is beautiful and a type I don't have (Yet)

VICTORIAN HALF CROWNS 1839 - 1901

This was an interesting era, as during her long reign saw the British empire expand massively and the country's population increased from 9 million in 1801 to 50 million in 1901. Most people came to the cities and the Half crown was much more widely used and whereas in previous reigns most Half crowns were in the reach of the rich, urban middle class, servants of the rich and the clergy - the poor often never saw cash or just copper pence and a few smaller silver coins like groats.

This era saw the Half crown circulate amongst all - even low paying factory work gave most people at least 10 - 15 shillings a week wages and up to 40 - 50 shillings in some cases. As the working class needed to pay for rent and food and fuel amongst other things, they got coins like Half Crowns and shillings rather than sovereigns, so the exposure was there.

Plus add to that, the expansion of colonial settlements and many of the ones that had large white settlements like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, plus many of the Caribbean places also used British coins and until the 1900s shortages were common. Some places like Canada and India had their own currencies issued by the British, and smaller Asian and African colonies had decimal or rupee based systems that did not need these coins.


1845 Type 1 Halfcrown of Victoria, a worn but honest coin

Yet despite this, the Halfcrown was very overlooked until 1887 for several reasons. The coins featured more of the same elaborate shield designs as the Georgian kings and the young head was designed by William Wyon, this would last until 1887 for gold/silver and 1894 for bronze! It was a pleasing design, but the highlight was the Una and the Lion £5 gold coin which had her hair in ringlets as well - this ringlets bust would be used for the Gothic Crown (1847) and Florins (1850 - 1887).

Unlike the Previous 21 years which saw no less than 6 Reverse changes, this one reverse lasted 50 years. There were no halfcrowns issued in 1838 except a pattern and the next year 1839 is probably the rarest in the British series with several varieties, 1839 dated coins cost thousands. The other rare year is 1841 with 42k coins issued, the 1839 mintage is unknown but even less.

Coins were issued every year 1839 to 1850 except 1847 and mintages were very low (200 - 500k a year) except for 1844, 45 and 46 which were 2 million each or so and quite common (Hence why my only coin is a worn 1845 the commonest year!) There were also proofs issued in 1852, 53, 1863 but after 1850 the Halfcrown was put on hiatus for 23 years and you will see why.
Overdate varieties exist and most are rare like 1848/46 and large and small dates for 1849.

Source for minting numbers
: https://onlinecoin.club/Coins/Country/United_Kingdom/Halfcrown_1839/

ENTER THE FLORIN


1849 Godless Florin (Worn as heck)

In the 1840s a modernising wave swept Britain and they realised the Americans and the European powers were all using or adopting decimal currency systems which had come out of Revolutionary France in the 1790s and the USA at the same time. These systems used the Base 10 counting systems (10 Mils = 1 cent, 10 cents = 1 dime, 100 cents = 10 dimes = 1 dollar (Unit) etc).

It was too much for Britain to do this as in the 1840s literacy rates were still low and such changes would befuddle the population, the British system was well over 1000 years old! So a compromise was reached with a new coin that would be 1/10 of a pound called a Florin and it helped this coin was worth 2 shillings which made counting easy. The problem was that it was too close in value to the Half crown and many of the people of England in this era (Smog was an issue due to factory and house smoke and fires, plus many of the poor had bad health and could not see well) so Halfcrowns would confuse the issue as the value difference (6 pence, 24 pence versus 30 pence) could be large for them.

Horrendous shot showing worn Gothic Florins

So the first Florin patterns were issued in 1848 and coins in 1849. the reaction was not good and the Queen was angry as the "Dei Gratia" was omitted - the Godless florin and this was immediately changed in 1850 to a slightly larger design (29mm) which was "Gothicized" to avoid confusion with the more classical looking halfcrown).

From 1850 to 1887, these coins were issued this way and they never saw jumbo issues with most years being a few hundred thousand and only a handful having a couple of million. The flat designs wore very quickly as well. They are the Gothic Florins and are a pain to date if worn as the date was in Roman Numerals around the Queen's portrait and being the 1850s to 1880s the dates had a lot of C's and X's usually - Take 1887 - MDCCCLXXXVII !

A compromise is reached 1874 - 1887


Pre and post 1850 half crowns (Worn again sorry)

For some unknown reason in 1874, it was decided to start minting the Halfcrown again and the denomination was minted regularly until 1967 afterwards. Maybe people missed them or they were more educated (Compulsory schooling started in 1870), but the coins were back.

Ironically the new coins were exactly the same design as the 1839/50 series and there was 18 year old Victoria staring back at you, when she was now 55! Numista's catalogue refers to these coins as the same, except for inferior workmanship and it seems bizarre they would reuse a 35 year old design which had a late Georgian neoclassical feel in contrast to the High Victorian gothic frippery of the Florins.

There were respectable numbers of high 6 and low 7 figures issued most years and none are particularly scarce except 1887 as this year saw the new coinage arrive.

This must be the right time for the godless florin:

Isn't it just beautiful - thanks for showing it!

Anytime is the RIGHT time for showing something that nice.

If anyone else wants to show half crowns, especially better quality examples than my worn ones - please be our guest.

ZacUK - maybe YOU should start that page on Crowns, that would be great. We should have a new section on Numista like the World Country section, where anyone can start a thread on their favourite coin series etc. It would be great, a one stop place for people who have these coins to find out more, ask questions about them and show off their examples!

The Later Victorian coins - "Jubilee" and "Old Head" coinages

In 1887 the dated designs finally got an upgrade, but it was not a particularly nice one


1887 - 1892 Halfcrowns, Obverse and Reverse

The new Jubilee head of Queen Victoria was designed by Joseph E Boehm and new shield design which looked a lot like some of the ones of George IV and III, was Leonard Charles Wyon.
The new portrait made Victoria's head look chicken necked like and some wispy veil over a declining tail of hair with a comically small crown sitting atop it. You see only worn coins above, but even unworn coins don't look much better. It was rumoured that Victoria was not amused by the coins (She seemed to have very little to praise with her coinage).

Despite this, numbers issued from 1887 to 1890 were generous and 1891 and 1892 less so - but not super rare at least. My 1891 above shows a variety with the reverse crown touching the rim (Getting better examples is on the cards). 1887 is a very easy date to get as it was the Golden Jubilee of her reign and many people hoarded coins dated that year. An Uncirculated 1887 half crown costs around $100 - $200 (As soon as I buy one, I will post it on the thread). Of course the 1887 Young head coin is not easy!

1887 was an innovative year for British coins, with the Florin changed to a design that was similar to the old crowned shield design of the late 17th and 18th century. Also the Crown was revived as a standard circulation piece and this lasted through the old head era as well. However in 1902 with the coronation of Edward VII, this was ended and only a one off coronation set and Proof coin was issued that year in the Crown size.


Late Victorian circulation crown with the Jubilee Head with St George design like the Gold

Also issued and tried in 1887, was a double Florin coin worth 4/- and only slightly smaller than the crown - another step towards decimalisation and an obsession with having several coins at once, the coin had the same crowned shields design as the florin. It was an abject flop and called the Barmaid's curse, due to it being confused with the crown. the coin was retired in 1890 although fairly good numbers of all the years 1887 to 1890 exist and there are Roman and Arabic number "1" varieties.

Old Head coinage 1893 - 1901


1893 Old Head Half Crown - a nice VF example I own

Fortunately the Jubilee design lasted just 6 years and 1893 saw a much nicer coinage with Victoria looking more matronly and less Turkey necked. The widows weeds draped over a larger coronet and the pearl broch and star of India made a better touch. Thomas Brock designed it and it was rolled out on all the silver and gold in 1893, with the Bronze waiting until 1895.

The Shilling, Half Crown and Florin all got upgraded reverses by Edward Poynter who went for an elaborate pseudo medieval and natural style shield. 3 Separate shields appeared on the two lower coins, but a large 4 quartered one appeared on the Half Crown and it was a fuller but prettier design (English arms occupied 2 of the 4 quadrants)

Like most previous Half crowns since the 1810s, the garter belt also appeared. The design was issued every year from 1893 to 1901 and none are particularly scarce, although coins above Fine condition are hard to get, they are not impossible and AU/UNC coins of this design can be brought and cost just a few hundred dollars for most dates. The 1893 coin also exists proof and this is quite rare. Yet like most coins of this era, most average ones are between Good and Fine. My VG coin above cost a bit more, but even there you can see a lot of wear on such an elaborate design.

My advice is that if you are on a budget, try and get at least one date in VF or better condition to appreciate the quality of these designs.

Although Victoria died on January 29 1901, all 1901 dated coins still show her bust.

The other change of the Jubilee and Old Head coinages is the alignment was changed to Medal from Coin.

Next we enter the 1900s and my coin numbers shoot up astronomically!

Wow, there are some real gems on this thread. The condition of some of them is incredible. Hope I look that good when I am over 100.
There is talk of starting a crown thread too. This could be too much to bare at the same time, but then again, our spirits need lifting.
Could I also request that before the crown, we do not forget the double florin, which would not take too long, but I like them too.

King Edward VII 1902 - 1909


Halfcrown Reverse and Obverse More detailed portrait from Halfpenny

In 1902, a new design for the Halfcrown was done by George William De Saulles, who also designed the portrait of the new King Edward VII (Who had very little hair and shared a similar girth and dimensions with his late Georgian ancestors). The Halfcrowns had a modern looking Art Nouveau design with more modern contemporary lettering but still Byzantine levels of clutter on the Reverse.

The shield again was crowned and more fancy than the Georgian and Victorian coins. The Garter Belt with the Honi Soi mal y Pense logo was also back.


My 1902 - 1920 examples!

For this reign, coins were issued all of the 9 years, but the years of 1903, 04 and 05 were scarce with 1905 having the lowest mintage of just 188k coins, 1903 was 488k and 1904 about 700k. Even the other years had fairly low mintages compared to the coins of King George V (1911 - 1936). These coins also had thin rims and the shield design was heavily raised, so they wore quickly, especially the lettering. Not surprisingly I have only Fine or VG examples as VF/EF and up are expensive.


Wear is common on this type and lettering seems to wear off fast!

The so called common dates of 1902 and 1906/1910 have mintages around 2 million coins each and there were more gold sovereigns and their halves minted then. 1902 also had a proof set and proof half crowns exist. These coins are very collectable and nice, but pale next to the gorgeous Florin design of Britannia on the prow of a warship.

Victorian halfcrowns:

1887:




1889 (enameled):

That enamelling is so weird, it seemed to be a fashion then and I have seen quite a few enamelled coins from this era up to the 1950s.

King George V 1911 - 1936 - A long reign full of changes


1919 Halfcrown and Portrait in high grade - A lower grade example

This reign was one of great change and saw 4 major types along with several minor changes, through the reign, we went through a World war and a long Depression along with a brief period of prosperity and great social change.

The most subtle change was the metal compostion as the reign started off with the Sterling silver coins of the previous 350 years and changed to a half base metal coin no longer worth its weight in silver.

Type 1 (1911 - 1919)


Note the rim thickening and the beads between reigns

The first coins of the new reign were very similar to those of Edward VII, but they had a thicker rim and a more recessed design, along with beading inside in the rim. This protected the design better and ensured that lettering remained on the coin longer - as you can see it was the edge of the shield that still wore first. The two coins above both grade Fine or nearly so (1910) yet its is amazing how much detail survives on the later coin.


Edward VII and George V - Just for those of you wanting to tell them apart on worn coins

The portrait of King George V was designed by Bertram MacKennal, who also designed the colonial version with crown on the colonial coins. The portrait was slightly modified in 1926 but essentially remained the same through to 1936. Some people find George and Edward hard to tell apart - George had hair over his whole head and was a lot more slender than Edward. Although he got a wee bit bigger in the late 1920s, George was a much skinnier and healthier king than his father, being in the Navy and an Exercise freak in his younger days, the King cut the most dashing figure since King James II.

The 9 years of 1911 to 1919 saw halfcrowns issued each year, but the first 3 years (1911 - 1913) saw modest numbers issued of 2.9 million in 1911 (Plus a few thousand proofs which are scarce) and just over 4 million each in 1912 - 13 - these dates are similar to Edward numbers and are more desirable years, but not rare.

The period 1914 - 1919 on the other hand saw jumbo numbers issued of between 10 - 11 million (1914 and 1919) to 25 - 28 million (1915, 17) and over 30 million (1916,18). These numbers ensure that getting high VF and even EF examples are fairly cheap ($30 or so) and hence why I have particularly nice 1915, 16 and 1919.

Finally World War One intervened and it did not affect numbers of coins issued much as they were producing the coins for colonial citizens as well, but the arrival of peace saw Europe bankrupted and they needed to rebuild. The Gold standard was abandoned and for the first time in centuries coins were being issued with metal value worth under face value.

Silver prices shot up and the silver in a Half Crown cost more than face value (Although in the mid 20s, prices dropped again below face value). This meant that starting in 1920 all British silver coins would be reissued in a new reduced silver alloy of 50% silver and I am not sure if a warning was given or not, but there was a lot of hoarding of the Halfcrowns and other silver coins of this era and that is why so many are found in F and better condition.

As you will see, the 1920s saw 3 alloy experiments and coins that are much more worn.

The 1920s - changes


My collection of Half crowns 1921 - 1935

Starting in 1920 we have the Type 2 Halfcrowns, which are the same as Type 1 except these coins are only Half silver. Many people think they were 50/50 the way through, but in fact there were 3 alloy types.

Alloy Type 1, 1920 - 1922

Originally the goal was to produce the new coins to look and feel the same as the old ones. realising that more copper would make the coins darker, they used a lightening metal to make the coins look as "White" as the old silver ones. The old coins already had 7.5% copper and some of these even show copper wear in low grades!

This alloy was 50% Silver, 40% Copper and 10% Nickel, the nickel being a whitener and for a while it worked, the coins were light and bright and could fool the people, but after a few months some of the coins darkened as the Nickel and silver wore, exposing the copper core. The photo above shows a gVF/aEF 1921 Halfcrown which is mainly whitish, but already some darkish wear sits on the shield edges and the rim is darkening too. The other coin is a 1920 worn down to gVG/Fine and this coin is very dark and even has a gungy green wear making it look ugly and given the Humid damp climate or the UK and places like New Zealand and South Africa, wear came fast. People were not happy with these ugly and given the snobbery of the era "Cheap and nasty" coins.

All 1920 and 21 coins are Alloy 1s and most of the 1922 type 1's with joined crown and shield (To be discussed next post). I am almost certain there are no 1920 dated coins in sterling silver, but there are rumours a few may have slipped out before the switch.

Basically it was back to the drawing board!

Type 2 - No better! 1922 - 1926

The second alloy really was not any better, but in the short term proved to be easier and cheaper to make and was a more durable coin. Unlike type 1 it was a binary rather than tertiary compound. The coins were simply half silver and half copper and unlike type 1 and the earlier sterling silver, the metal was all combined and mixed in a cauldron with some acids and liquids which would make the silver settled over a copper biscuit (Blanching), so there was no silver coating.

Again it gave a visually stunning and durable coin when freshly minted like my nice 1926 coin above. But again wearing down, these coins looked more awful than the Type 1's - giving a horrible dark brown/blackish wear that could make it look like a penny. There was just too much copper and something needed to be done. Heavily circulated coins could go from white to dark brown in a few years, although most of these base silver coins circulated through to the 1960s.

This era also saw the move to Type 3 of the designs as well.

Type 3 - The Classic Quarternary Alloy 1927 - 1946

Finally in late 1926, a new alloy was figured out and this one was the most technical with 4 metals being used. There was mixing ratios and experiments to produce a durable and attractive coin, yet one that also wore honestly.

The new alloy was 50% Silver (The silver content was the only constant with these coins), 40% copper like Type 1 - but this time only 5% Nickel as the whitener and the addition of Zinc to 5% to harden the coin and grey it up a bit. Zinc was already used in Bronze coins and this also gave some durability. What came out was a very durable and a coin which when it wore was still ugly (What worn coin is actually that beautiful beyond curiosity interest) but the wear was honest and fresh coins started off lightish, but went through shades of grey and many of them did not wear much beyond Good or so. The picture shows an EF 1929 and a VG/gVG 1928 - unlike the other 2 the worn coin looks vaguely like the unworn one!

This alloy survived through to the end of Silver coinage in 1946.

Later King George Half Crowns 1920 - 1936


1921 Crown joined to shield - 1923 Groove between Crown and Shield

Numbers of coins issued in this period varied from year to year. 1920 to 1923 saw large numbers in the 8 figures, but 1924 and 1926 saw lower numbers of 4 - 6 million and 1925 is a scarce year with barely 1 million coins. Apart from 1911/27 proofs and 1930, 1925 is the rarest year. Hence why my 1925 is pretty nasty!

1925 - A scarce, hence a heavily worn coin is better than no coin!

In 1922 a minor design change was done with the crown and shield being separated and this wore better as light wear saw the two blend on 1920/22 coins - but as you can see on the coin above, the crown remains separate from the shield even on worn coins (The 1925 is just below VG). Some 1922 coins have the change and these are fairly scarce

Type 3 coins came in 1926 and were issued in 1926/27 only.


Pre modifed effigy Modified effigy

Bascially you had the same reverse as Type 2, but the portrait of the King was slightly reduced in size and the number of beads around the rim reduced from 188 to 145/46, the beads are larger and BM now has dots on it, in the bust on the truncation of the King's neck. I also think the second portrait looks sharper (Maybe as my later George V coins are generally better condition).
Type 3 was issued on some 1926 coins (More scarce) and most of 1927's coins with the De Saulles Reverse.

TYPE 4 - The Kruger Gray era


Kruger Gray era designs for UK (1927), New Zealand (1933) and South Africa (1923) coins shown are later dates than the original designs and first years of issue.

George Kruger Gray was born in London in 1880 and the son of parents from Jersey, he designed a lot of the coins between the 1920s and 1940s.

Before we go further I have seen his named spelled Grey and Gray, but will go with the latter as it appears in the Numista catalogue.

Gray was called in after it was decided in 1927 that the De Saulles Reverse was getting a bit tired, have being used since 1902, and it was also on 6d and shilling coins. He was asked to redesign all the coins from 3d up to a revived 1 Crown coin. He had already designed a coinage for South Africa in 1923 and this included a Half Crown. Gray would also design coins for Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Southern Rhodesia and Jersey amongst other places.

He did acorn and oak leaves based designs for the 3d and 6d (The 3d had a design that went back to the 17th century and only changed crowns between reigns!). the shilling got a lion rampart on the crown and Florins had 4 mini shields reverse with ampulas dividing them. With the half crown - we got the shield again, but with crowns either side of the compressed "waist" of the shiled and conjoined G's in a cypher. The motto was gone and the stylish but simple shield filled the design, again the symbols of Ireland (3 leaved clover), Scotland (Thistle) and England (Rose) filled in the inscription.


Kruger Gray Florin, Sixpence and Threepence designs

Of these coins, there was a 1927 Proof set issued and 1927 dated coins with this design are rare, but do exist - proofs always escape into circulation. Essentially 1928 saw the big roll out of designs. There was also a crown of 5/- issued with a gorgeous oak leaves, acorns, thistles, roses ect and a crown with the year on it. These crowns were issued 1927 to 1936 (Except 1935 due to the Silver Jubilee Crown). However none are common as no more than 10 thousand were issued in a year and 1934 dated coins are very rare.

1930 a scarce year coin

Of the years 1928 to 1936, Half crowns were issued every year and none are outstandingly rare, but 1930 is a very scarce year with only 810,000 issued. I had to pay a bit more for this coin than the other years. The other less common years are 1932 and 1934 with 4 or so million each, the other years are all common with 1928/29/31 and 1936 being very common years. The joy of this era is how easy it is to get coins as many of them were used through to the 1960s and worn examples feature heavily in junk silver lots.

Despite this, these coins still have .2273 ounces of silver in them (About 7.07 grams) worth around $6 NZ.

Next we move into King George VI, a reign which saw more changes and the end of silver coinage.

King Edward VII 1936/37 - The coins that never were.

King George V died on January 20 1936 and his eldest son Edward VIII succeeded to the throne. As with tradition, 1936 dated coins would carry the effigy of the old King, giving the mint plenty of time to produce new coins for the realm.

The Kruger Gray designs were only 8 years old, but already they were updated by none other than .....Kruger Gray! Humphrey Paget designed the effigy of the new king. Also planned was a brass threepence and this would circulate with the silver one. Silver 3d's by this stage had little value and often got lost. A one off crown was also planned and a the proof set would feature all 4 gold denominations from £5 to £½ - although they were collectors proofs only, gold had not been used in circulation since 1932 and banknotes ruled supreme now.


Planned Edward VIII Half crown (Image from Royal Collection Trust) modified by me and definitely NOT my coin (Pattern)

Of course as we all know, Edward never got crowned, due to his love for twice divorced Wallis Simpson and in December 1936 he abdicated, becoming the Duke of Windsor and chose Wallis over the empire. This changed everything and made George his younger brother the new king.
Surprisingly the mint modified the coins and the same coronation date for a new king.


1936 Territory of New Guinea Penny with Edward VIII Cypher

Some colonial territories like Fiji and Papua New Guinea along with some African colonies and Indian Princely states issued Edward VIII coins, but none showed a portrait, merely his name in words. None of these are rare and make nice conversation pieces. For British coins, a few patterns were made, and one pattern set exists in private hands, none of these coins entered circulation and examples of all including Half crowns can be counted on one hand, figure millions of dollars for one. No doubt many fantasy coins and reproductions of these coins and other fake designs exist though!

Your chances of having a real Edward VIII coin of the UK are close to 0.

My collection like 99.9990% of others goes from a 1936 George V Halfcrown to a 1937 George VI Halfcrown.

Maybe then this copper pattern crown of Edward VIII dated 1936 that I got many years
ago is more modern. I did not want to touch it to take it out of the holder ...

George VI Halfcrowns


The George VI Halfcrown design 1937 - 1948

The George VI coins first emerged in 1937 and unlike the previous reign, kept the same design and largely the same lettering until 1949. One major change of course was the switch to Copper Nickel in 1947.

The design was again by Kruger Gray and unlike the square one, the shield and design were similar to the 1927 - 1936 coins, but there are some subtle differences.


Spot the differences 1931 and 1939

For the uninitiated, they look pretty similar - but the main differences are much thicker and more moderne looking lettering, the shield has a nick on the top left corner on the older coin, which is gone on the later coin. Also the Thistle, Rose and Shamrock have gone to to bare fields and a ring which hangs the shield like a decoration at the top of the coin.

The shield is skinner and more waisted in the middle and the crowned G's are thicker. Also the bottom central line does not intercept the lettering at the bottom.

The other thing you may notice, is that my examples are much better condition than earlier coins - I have some nice pre 1937 coins, but at least 5 of my George VI's are EF condition (They look uncirculated, but you can see wear on high points of the King's face). In general high grade coins are very cheap in the KGVI era and there are no rare dates. Mintages are high (10 - 40 million coins a year). But also many worn and nasty examples exist too, as the coins like the earlier 1920s and 1930s ones saw heavy use in the 1950s and 1960s too.

The value of a half crown slid in this era, by 1950 you could barely get into the movies with one or buy a meal beyond a greasy spoon (Although the 1939 - 1954 period was all rationing and 5/- got you a plain meal in a "British restaurant"). Also with NZ and Southern African dominions using their own halfcrowns and some other countries with their own coins to florins, more Half crowns remained in the UK than before!


My 1936 and King George VI silver coins (My 1937 and 1938 are still in the mail, my 45 is worn!)

Generally for the new collector and casual collector, this reign is perfect to start a collection with.


1937 Crown - a one off and not too rare.

Also in 1937, a special crown was issued as a one off, 775k were issued and they did circulate (Most ended up being hoarded as souvenirs). They did not catch on and this was the last attempt at issuing crowns for circulation. More crowns followed in 1951 and in Elizabeth's time, but these were souvenir coins. 1937 coins are not that rare or expensive, but are an interesting beautiful coin.

Next the Cupronickel years!

Απόσπασμα: "ZacUK"​ Maybe then this copper pattern crown of Edward VIII dated 1936 that I got many years
​ago is more modern. I did not want to touch it to take it out of the holder ...
​

​Nice coin ZacUK, but I will bet you some money, it does not date from 1936

Still good to have something that can at least remind you of these coins that were never issued.

I have about 15 British half crowns (none silver) and I do love them. They’re so much more satisfying to hold than modern coins. I personally find them a bit too large. My favourite pre-decimal British coin is by far the florin or two shilling piece.

Απόσπασμα: "ZacUK"​ Maybe then this copper pattern crown of Edward VIII dated 1936 that I got many years
​ago is more modern. I did not want to touch it to take it out of the holder ...
​

​I’ve noticed a lot of restrikes, replicas and counterfeits (most listings will say it’s a replica in the description but it is not stated as much in the title) of Edward VIII coins have a much pointier nose than real pattern coins from the time. Your coin does appear to have it. If you search eBay for ‘Edward VIII coin’ and compare the portraits on there to the pictures of genuine patterns displayed in the catalogue, the difference is very easy to spot. There seems to be other differences in the detail of the hair, jawline etc. but the nose is the best one to look out for.

The reason I'm fond of half crowns is because that was my "spends" (allowance in the US) every Friday after school. One week in four I'd get three half crowns instead of one - one for a haircut and the other went into a tin money box from the old Trustees Savings Bank.

Απόσπασμα: "pnightingale"​The reason I'm fond of half crowns is because that was my "spends" (allowance in the US) every Friday after school. One week in four I'd get three half crowns instead of one - one for a haircut and the other went into a tin money box from the old Trustees Savings Bank.
​
​

​I met someone who was around before decimalisation and showed him my pre-decimal coins. It was amazing to see his face light up as he told me about his “spends” of two shillings a month (not anywhere near yours!) and went on about the pre-decimal coins.

Love the tales about them being spends and pocket money and that is definitely the pattern by the mid 20th century, in the pre 1914 era, it was a wage coin - you threw pennies at the kids even if you could spare pennies! By the 1930s it was a 3d or a 6d, but the affluent 50s meant people were being paid in notes not coins except as parts of the last pound you earned.

I am far too young to remember Half crowns in use as currency, the coin equated to 25 cents or 12.5p in the higher unit places and there was no equivalent in decimal currency (As you will see "50 cent" sized coins were issued in some places the size of a halfcrown - but worth twice as much (Jamaica, Malawi and Rhodesia issued 25 cent coins that were the equivalent though)).

I was born in 1976, so the earliest coins I remember being given were 2 cent coins as a 2 year old and by the time I was 6 or 7 it was a 20 cents coin. But my Mum (born 1954 died 2007) remembers her grandparents giving her a Florin and her slightly older brother a Half crown as a present in the 1960s.

Golden Garfield - does it help I was a huge Garfield fan back in the late 80s through to late 2000s when buying his books became too hard and expensive. I had all of the Ballantyne books and several anthologies up to 2004. I had about 10 plushes (Including a "Stuck on you" Car one) and even drew my own Garfield comics which had about 40 new characters I invented along with including Arlene and Nermal. If it helps my job has an Indian dude called Nirmal who I keep calling Nermal.




I still have all these in my storage unit - I nearly sold them 2 years ago, but decided $45 was not enough to sell 30 years of fond memories.

Later King George VI: The Cupro Nickel era


I have many duplicates of these coins - these are my best for each year that are 20 cents each (I could buy nice ones for several dollars, but these are fine. the 48 and 50 are basically EF

During World War 2, the British continued to mint large numbers of coins between the Farthing and Half Crown, however they ran out of silver and borrowed several hundreds of millions of ounces from the USA during the lend lease programme. Once the war ended of course, the Americans wanted the silver to be paid back. The British treasury was nearly depleted and the Empire was imploding around them, with the Jewel of the Crown - British India becoming independent and between 1957 and 1970 most of the Empire now Commonwealth became independent. Britain also started the National Health service in 1948 and welcomed migrants from the Caribbean and sent many of her own out to Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

In 1949 the Pound was devalued 30% and another 10% in 1967 (Bretton Woods?)

In 1946, it was decided one way to pay back the silver loan and bankroll all this social spending on Post War recovery, was to debase the coins further, to basically trim another 50% silver out of the coins. They had less to work with, as the Threepences were all brass, the last silver threepence issued in 1945 (Except for Maundy coins of course). So in 1947 the Halfcrown, Florin, Shilling and Sixpence would be reissued in an alloy of 25% Nickel and 75% Copper (I think there may have been 2.5% Zinc as well).

A base metal 1948 Half crown - dull grey colour

What this meant, was that the coins were now completely made out of worthless base metal. In 1946 a silver halfcrown contained around 1/3 of silver and cost 2d to make, leaving a 1/1 margin on the face value vs production cost. Margins were lower for lower denomination coins - however the new Copper Nickel mix meant a coin cost barely a penny for metal and the same to make, leaving a 2/4 margin on a 2/6 coin. That ratio dropped to 4½d for a 6d coin.

To gain more ounces of silver, coins minted for New Zealand and Fiji along with Ireland and several other places including India, now also had base metal coins minted. Some other Dominions like Australia, South Africa and Canada kept minting silver and in the case of Canada kept an 80% mixture until 1967 (They dropped from 92.5% in 1920), Australia dropped from 92.5% to 50% in 1946 and remained there until 1964. The South Africans dropped their silver percentage from 92.5% to 50% in 1950.

The new coins had an issue, so much copper would mean a dark coin and there was the issue of what do they look like when they wear - as we have seen with 1920s alloy experiments.

Fortunately they coated a copper biscuit with Nickel which gave a light shiny coin and of course it would darken as it wears - but fortunately, the new alloy was much more durable than silver and its very hard to find a 1947 onwards Half crown below VG condition - most that survive have remained in Fine and even Very Fine condition. The worn 48 above is good Fine to VF and is average. Of course some knowitall will pop up a worn flat half crown from 1950 or whatever, but these are aberrations rather than usuality. Most wear manifests as green verdigris stains and this is environmental, again the shifts between warm and cool damp conditions in the UK and New Zealand are evidence of this.

Post Ind: Imp and Pre Ind:Imp

These new coins were issued between 1947 and 1951, none are rare or even scarce with low 8 figure mintages each year except 1949 which was 9 million - but its not rare. There are two types though. 1947 and 1948 coins have "Ind:Imp" in the inscription as this was Emperor of India in Latin. Of course in 1947 India became independent and George went back to just being a King from an Emperor. NZ and most other places dropped this in 1948, but the British were cheeky and left it on their 1948 dated coins. In 1949 it went away and many of you may notice how less cluttred the coins of 1949 to 1952 are. Even the Cypher on the 6d became more basic.

The high numbers issued were mostly to bed in the new coins amongst the old, so silver coins could be bought in and melted and the silver used to pay off that American debt. Yet the usual hoarding of silver coins ensured many never got recalled and also many silver coins kept circulating through and into the Decimal era.

Otherwise there are no differences in design between these coins and the earlier silver ones. You can tell these apart from silver in.

1. The date, if its 1947 or later its cupronickel - 1946 or earlier - silver (As far as I know no coins in silver from 1947 exist and no Cupronickel ones from 1946)
2. The colour - New silver is a whitish colour and blackens/green when worn, Cupronickel has a shiny metallic light grey/chrome colour, and dulls to a darker grey when more worn - green spots of verdigris appear on either type due to high copper content.
3. The ding, coins make a different sound, silver dings, nickel sort of thuds.
4. Reeding - the reeding on the edge of cupronickel coins is much finer.


Portraits remained the same - De Indianisation saw the Sixpence breathe a bit

It is also amazing how these coins were the exact same size and weight as the silver ones.

Finally only 2 patterns were made in 1952, so this coin does not exist. You can however get 1952 Halfpence, Threepence and Sixpences quite easily. No doubt fantasies and reproductions exist.

Next - Queen Elizabeth II Halfcrowns

Enter Queen Elizabeth II 1953 - 1967


Reverse of QE2 Halfcrowns - 1953 OBVERSE ----------------------1954/70 OBVERSE

As there were no Halfcrowns in 1952, more time was given to practice for 1953. Like with previous reigns the previous ruler generally died at the start of a year and it was nearly a 2 year wait for new coins with the new ruler to come out (1953 does not mean they were there on January 1 1953, not sure about the UK, but apart from the Crowns, the 1953 QE2 coins arrived in New Zealand in September!). Crowns - a special 5/- coin for New Zealand and the UK were put out, both by June 2nd when the Queen was crowned. Neither are rare or expensive and the affluent 50s was a great time to buy souvenir coins in new fangled plastic cases that cost 6d more.


NZ crown, Royal Visit and Coronation - British crown in its perspex case

As it had been 16 years since 1937, the Half crown like all the coins except the Bronze (Which got a makeover at the last reign) got another makeover. This time it was Cecil Thomas who got the design gong (Kruger Gray had died 10 years before). The Half crown design I feel is less pleasing and looks very workaday and plain.

The rim is much thicker and the beads eat a good 3mm into the edge of the coin, we have a bulkier set of lettering and a more rectolinear shield it is like the artistic flair found on the De Saulles and Gray designs (Both of them) is gone here. This is factory art. The big plus is that the ER letters are large and the Crown is more prominent, we also have scrolled estrucheons holding up the shield, something that has not been seen since the early 17th century!


Noticed the scrolled estrucheons on both coins

One interesting aspect is on the bottom right of the shield design next to the scroll is CT the initials of the designer and on the left side is E F which I suspect may be Latin as "Engravius Fecit" Engraving created by Cecil Thomas. (Please do correct me if this wrong, the letters are a mystery. Mary Gillick provided the Obverse design of The Queen (Ironically still ruling now).

If you tilt the effigy and look very closely at the base of the effigy you will see MG in the middle. This effigy was strapless up to 1956 and then a more detailed effigy with a shoulder strap and much more detailed hair appeared on later coins.

The top photos show two types of inscription on the effigy - the 1953 coins have Britt:Omn (Queen of all the Britons) - but given the switch to Commonwealth and not every Briton was ruled over by the Queen, they got rid of it in 1954 and this inscription survived to the end. Consider the British Isles includes Ireland as well and 80% of is an independent republic which severed its last ties to the UK in 1949.



Some of my Lizzies in their natural habitats - coins I don't have yet have cards awaiting their arrival.

Again like the coins of her father, Elizabeth's half crowns are all easy to find and there are no rare, or even scarce dates. Coins were issued every year from 1953 to 1967 and the one off proof coin in 1970 (Never released into circulation and you would have to break a perspex case to get one out - someone actually did for my example!).

1964 had the lowest mintage of 6 million, 65 and 59 also had under 10 million, the other years 15 - 30 million each! The biggest mintage was 33 million in 1967, the last full year of Predecimal coins being made and basically being expected to last until the end of this currency in 1971 (Actually demonitised in 1969). Most surviving coins range between Fine and gVF in the 1950s, at least VF by the 1960s and you would be hard pressed to find one under EF for 1966 and 1967 - yet they exist. UNC coins cost practically very little (Figure $10 at the ding dong most), but who would want one when VF/EF examples can be found in BULK coin lots.

Apart from my 1970 which I handed over the princely sum of $4 for and the 1953 is from an uncirculated set that had fallen out of its packet (Cost $14 for 8 coins - the sixpence had gone awol) - none of my lizzies cost more than a bulk coin price of between 5 and 20 cents each.

There are rarities - an uncirculated set 1953 would cost you a few $ for a coin and maybe $10 - $20 for a set still in its plastic case. The proof set costs a lot more like $50 for a good one and less for "impaired proofs" figure more for original red cases in good condition. Matte proofs are extremely rare and will cost you hundreds (Just a few thousand). The 1970 proof set was strictly for collectors only and was a commercial product in garish purple casing - they retail around $20 or so and loose coins exist, only 750,000 sets were made.

Apparently proofs exist of several of the 50s coins and all of the 60s ones - again figure spending some serious money.

The story is not over yet - the next post discusses the winding down of the denomination and then we move into Colonial Half crowns.

I remember reading many many years ago that a coin collector was checking his change
(before decimalisation of course) and found a 1952 Half Crown. I now found this story also ...
http://www.colincooke.com/coin_images/halfcrowns/1952.html

Good story Zac UK, looking at the coin - its had a bit of wear, I wonder how many pockets and hands it went through with people not realising what this coin was. They would be kicking themselves now, realising that the thing is unique, whereas the 1949/51 coins are very common!

I like how people have uploaded images of types of coin I don't have and now to see a real rarity in the flesh. We are a friendly community here.

1963 - 1971 The end of an era


1963 ---------------------------- 1967 (Last year of circulation)

In the 1960s, the question of decimal currency came back and after years of peace, increasing affluence and a changing society - it seemed that change was imminent.

Many of Britain's ex colonies and other nations were adopting decimal systems and it seemed a matter of time before Britain did too, but how to dismantle a currency system that went back over 1,200 years! The Florin back in 1848 was the first step, but now it was time to get serious. A new system would mean new coins and denominations and some casualties - the half crown was one.

The goal was to retain as much as the old system as possible while adjusting to the new decimal base 10 system. A given was a decimal pound would be the same as a imperial pound sterling.
However this would need to be divided into 100 parts, and these would be known as pence with the word penny remaining. As the current system was 240 pennies to a pound and 20 shillings - the new one was 100 pence. This meant some creative mathematics.

A "New" Florin and Shilling

Basically a shilling was worth 5 New Pence making the Shilling and Florin instantly became 5 new pence and 10 new pence. The bronze coins were immediately obliterated being weird fractions of a new penny (Even a One penny was worth 0.4167 of a new penny). Even the 6d went as it was 2.5 new pence and not an exact number. A Half crown at 12.5 pence had no place basically. Even more bizarre was the 50 new pence coin to be issued worth 10 old shillings. The original plan was for a note, but inflation through the 60s saw the value of 10 bob erode down to near nothing.

The size of a Halfcrown but worth 4 x as much

The 50p was designed to be a coin by 1969, and the coin was made 7 sided not to confuse it with Halfcrowns as it was roughly a bit smaller than a halfcrown but worth 4 times as much.

The first plans for a set of coins came out in 1963 and these included a 25 new pence crown and a aluminium ¼d. Neither would fly, people did not like huge crown sized coins and given inflation at its path - the 25p coin would be near worthless in another decade.

The end continued....

In 1967 the currency board got serious and decided that 15 February 1971 would be changeover day and the set of coins was unveiled from the ½d, 1d and 2d in Bronze, Copper nickel 5p, 10p and 50p (The epithet new was used on the coins up to 1981, but people basically called them pence). This was the initial set - of course later on the ½p went and 20p, £1 and £2 coins were issued for circulation.

The Machin effigy on the Decimal coins

Also to avoid confusion, only the 5p and 10p would be released into circulation in 1968 to mix them in with the existing Shilling and Florin. The effigy changed to an Arnold Machin one which was rolled out across the Commonwealth between 1963 and 1968.

In 1967 the last complete set of the old coins was issued for circulation, including all the denominations from the Halfpenny to Half Crown - very large numbers were issued with 33.5 million halfcrowns and they seemed to have lasted as many 1967 dated coins survive in conditions from EF to UNC.

In 1969 all the denominations not directly related to the new currency were demonitised, this included the Halfpenny and Penny (Which were so worthless now, very few people missed them) and the Half crown. the 3d, 6d, 1/- and 2/- remained legal tender up to Decimal day and were redeemable a year after.

The 31st of December 1969 was the last year Half crowns were legal tender. It was the end of an era after 425 years of usage. However in 1970 a one off proof set of the old coins was issued and this included a gorgeous shimmering half crown. It is doubtful any ended up in circulation.

Next the Half Crowns of NEW ZEALAND

Gonna take a break here for a week or so, so show us your halfcrowns if you like.

Some more Halfcrowns arrived today - to add to the collection



These have all been moved out of these holders, but these 14 coins bring my total of British Half crowns up to 84 different. In January I had 4.

Dates include (Not in order on picture)
1887, 88, 89, 91, 96, 99, 1900, 01, 06, 07, 08, 22 with groove, 37 and 38.


Jubilees range from this to this


Old heads from this to this (Not exactly spending big bucks or finding really nice ones yet)

Will start my colonial Half Crowns in a few days.

Back to the thread, next we look at Half crowns issued outside the UK by (mostly) British colonies and Dominions. However the first ones are NOT colonial.

Colonial Halfcrowns - 1. South Africa


1894 and 1897 "Boer" 2½ Shilling coins (Halfcrowns)

It was natural that emerging colonies would also want to issue their own coins once they got established. A case in point is South Africa, this country did not unify until 1910 and it was made up of African peoples, British migrants, Asian and Indian people and mixed race people along with the Afrikaners, a group of Dutch and French Protestants who had been there since the 17th century.

The mass arrival of British settlers in the early 1800s saw the Boers (Afrikaners) forced inland towards the Transvaal, the period 1834 - 1838 was the great Voortrek and this involved wagon trains of immigrants moving across South Africa to the highveld and encountering angry Africans and other obstacles. By 1840 several Afrikaners states had been established, the largest being the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal basically). They were farmers and a few traders mostly, but in 1853 that changed when Pieter Maritz discovered gold on the Tugela river which bought some wealth to these places, this increased in 1868 with the discovery of Diamonds on the Kimberely which bought a rush of miners and traders mostly British and American - overnight these were wealthy placers and the God fearing Boers were alarmed.

Paulus Johannes Kruger 1825 - 1904 President of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek

In 1874 they started issuing Gold coins called Ponds (Based on pounds) and in 1886 a huge reef of gold was discovered on the Witswatersrand and the boomtown of Johannesburg started. There had already been wars between Boers, British and Zulu but the stage was set for further conflict with the greed of the "Randlords" like Cecil Rhodes for these regions and their annexation by Britain. Relationships between the Boer republics and Britain (Which controlled the Natal and Cape of Good Hope colonies) already poor were worsened.

However currency and law and order was needed, and the limited issues of Gold changed to a new coinage of Bronze pennies and Silver coins to the Halfcrown. They used the sterling system and the same denominations - but that was where the similarities stopped. First of all the coins were not technically half crowns but 2½ shillings and other coins were denominated in numbers rather than words (Sadly the similarity of Afrikaans to English meant that the Afrikaans for Penny and Shilling were Penny and Shilling!). Next of all the coins were minted in Germany and used 0.894 or 0.900 Fine silver rather than 0.925. However in 1893 -98 subsequent coins were minted at the new South African mint in Pretoria

Finally, they were not interchangeable with English currency as far as we know and it was meant for the new migrants in Johannesburg (Founded 1886 and took off population wise), and Africans. British and the mining and trading population who were familiar with Sterling currency (Which was used in COGH and Natal).


Pretty nasty penny of mine, gunky but little wear.

The coins were issued only between 1892 and 1897 (There were pennies in 1898 too). There was also a one off issue of Crowns (5 shilling pieces) and Gold was issued up to 1902 (1902 coins are just basically engraved "Een pond" - Siege coins).

Nice complete set (NOT MINE and Copyright of Person named)

The coins all had fairly low mintages and I consider very beautiful designs, with the shield on all and Paul on the back (He does not have the hideous buck teeth you see in British Boer war propaganda). The coins 3d to 2/- have the bust of Kruger plain with no writing.

The Second Boer war broke out in late 1899 and despite early victories - The British ended up winning and the way they treated Boers was disgusting, exiling all the big guns to places like St Helena (General Cronje, stayed in Longwood house where Napoleon died) and Sri Lanka - and letting women and children die in Concentration camps. Even more bizarre was many of the Boer big guns became supporters of the new Union and all the first 3 Presidents of the Union were Boer leaders (Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Hertzog etc) and were praised for their heroism in World War 1!

It also meant the Boer coinage was invalidated around 1900 and until 1923 British coins were again used through the Union.

The peace of 1902 saw the two Afrikaner states (Orange Free State and South African Republic) become colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal (Stellaland went to Bechuanaland- Botswana) and Swazieland was now in the new colony of Swaziland. In 1910 the four colonies became the Union of South Africa , a Dominion in the Empire.

Boer coins are very collectable and surprisingly cheap. Only the gold and the crowns will set you back big bucks (And the gold is barely above melt). My Halfcrowns both cost around double melt. UNC coins have a premium, but good F - aEF examples are cheap and plentiful - mintage numbers were low (hundreds of thousands most years).

SOUTH AFRICA 2 - THE UNION COINAGE


1923 Type 1 design (Photo from Coinfacts.wiki) NOT MINE

The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 and used the Imperial currency until 1923 (Although apparently the old Boer coins were still being used too. At the same time the South African mint in Pretoria had been apropriated by the British and was issuing gold sovereigns and half sovereigns from South African reef gold. In 1923 it was an official branch mint of the Royal Mint, but in 1941 became Nationalised. They continued to issue gold coins until 1932.

In 1923, the British allowed them to issue their own currency and a new series of designs from the farthing up to the Half crown were designed by a new coin artist called Kruger Gray (Despite the name, he was not South African or related to Kruger Grey). The coins were attractive and based on designs in South Africa. The coins featured lovebirds on the farthing - the pioneer ships on the Half and One penny, numbers on the 3d and 6d (Tickey and sprat in SA vernacular) but these were replaced by Protea plants in the 1930s.

The Shilling showed an allegory of "Hope" and the Shield with coat of arms appeared on the Florin and Half Crown (Uncrowned on Former and Crowned on latter). These coins were used up to 1960, however the designs changed very slightly over that time.


Half penny and Farthing Design - 1927 Halfcrown

The first coins issued in 1923 had the value in words as "2½ Shillings 2½" and the bilingual inscription referred to "Zuid Afrika". In 1925 this changed slightly with the right 2½ being dropped.


1927 - 1931 Type 2 (No second 2½) with Zuid Afrika

The coins issued from 1923 to 1951 were .800 silver, more than the UK but less than Sterling silver coins of Australia (The only other colony with sterling currency then).

These coins were also used in Southern Rhodesia and probably other British colonies in Africa south of the Shilling Zone in central Africa.

More South African Halfcrowns

Type 3 Design "Suid Afrika 1932 - 1950"

In 1932 the coins got another slight makeover with the changing of the spelling of the Afrikaans name to Suid from Zuid. At this time also there was the issuing of a currency in Southern Rhodesia which meant that South African coins were no longer used there. Also this Rhodesian currency was only 50% silver. Southern Rhodesia had become a Dominion in 1926 and thus was entitled to a currency. This reverse remained until 1950.


George V 1923 - 1936-----------George VI 1937 - 1947
REX IMPERATOR (King Emperor)

The obverses of the George V coins had the Crowned Bertram Mackennal portrait of the king used on all the colonial and Dominion coinages except those places that got coinages in the 1930s (New Zealand, Fiji and Southern Rhodesia) - which used the 1930s Kruger Gray portrait.

Mintages of the coins were very low through George V and into George VI with only 50k - 200k coins in most years (Some years saw no coins). Except for a brief period between 1941 and 1944 when mintages reached the 1 - 2 million mark per year, these remained low until 1951. Numbers of the Florins were much higher along with the smaller coins.

Imperator was a word used on South African coins with Latin as the main text. In 1948 when India was no longer in the Empire, it changed to "Georgius Sextus Rex". The coins of George VI did not change at all from the last type of George V except in the portrait of the new king by Humphrey Paget.

As South Africa was a Dominion, the uncrowned portrait of George VI was used. In 1948 the coins changed to Georgius Sextus and also the word "Shillings" was removed just to show 2½s and the date retreated to the top of the coin rather than in the middle of the coin with 2 figures either side of the shield.


Proof set ------------------------Crown and Halfcrown -----------Type 4 1950- 1960 design

The other big change was in 1947, they introduced a new Crown coin which was worth 5/- and this circulated alongside the others until 1960. Huge numbers were never issued, but they did catch on, which meant the Half crown was no longer the Top denomination.

Even more bizarre, was Proof sets were issued every year from 1947 onwards and in 1951 gold ½ and 1 Pound coins were issued (Not for circulation though). In 1948 they voted in a Nationalist government which introduced the racist system of apartheid and the strings to the commonwealth were cut further!

In 1951 they debased the silver down to 50% and this level it remained at until 1964. Numbers of halfcrowns issued in 1951 and 1952 were fairly high again, but in Elizabeth's reign they dropped back to a few hundred thousand at most per year and some years just a few thousands.

The last phase of South African Halfcrowns


The Bust of Elizabeth used in 1953 - 1960 -----Last type was used through

The new reign of Elizabeth saw very few changes in the coins, although South Africa was earning global condemnation for its racist Apartheid system which gave whites all the privileges and everyone else near nothing. Interesting as America was still using Jim Crow and as late as 1955 a Black teenager was brutally murdered for whistling at a white girl and Blacks were still openly discriminated against well into the 1960s. In New Zealand some pubs and movie theatres still banned Maoris and Islanders and they had housing discrimination as late as 1986 - so people may remember that Apartheid was not the only thing that was racist in this era.

Since the coins had been debased in 1951 and most designs changed to be more simple then, the Elizabethan series is plain and fairly common. Even though words and monarchs changed, the same Reverse designs from 1923 and 1932 (tickey and sprat) remained the same.

Several commemorative crowns were issued (1952 Tercentanary, 1960 Union) and Proof sets came out every year with the gold pair too.


1955 Crown ------------------------------1953 Proof set coins --------------------------------------

In 1960 this abruptly changed, when a riot in a Black area called Sharpeville broke out and many Africans were brutally murdered by Boer led Police and Army. This saw global and especially British condemnation in a year most of Britain's African colonies were being made independent or getting ready for it. The South Africans were adamant and removed themselves from the Commonwealth now as the balance of the power moved from English speaking to Afrikaans speaking whites.

What it meant was Elizabeth was no longer head of state and coins and stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Union seemed redundant. Big changes occurred. Because the country was very wealthly due to minerals and had an untapped tourism potential, it was like they did not need the British anymore.

So in early 1961, they scrapped the Sterling Pound and bought in the new currency of the Rand. This was made up of 100 cents and a Rand was worth 10 old shillings. What it meant was that both gold and all the silver coins except one would have new decimal equivalents. Brass 1 cent and ½cent were the same size as old Pennies and halfpence but brass and worth slightly more.
All the new coins had Jan van Riebeck in the place of Queen Elizabeth.


1961 50 cent in the style of the old Crown.

Sadly that one coin was the Halfcrown as it equated to 25 cents in the new money and seemed pointless when you had a 5c, 10c, 20c, and 50c now. So 1960 therefore was the last Halfcrown issued by South Africa and it was issued in very small numbers 12k + 4k proofs. The large substantial issue of them was in 1958 with 1953/58 all seeing decent numbers in the low millions.

The new coinage only lasted 4 years and in 1965 it was replaced by a smaller and scrappier coinage ranging up to a silver rand which became Cupronickel in 1970 and the rest was bronze or cupronickel. Obverses showed the coat or arms or Presidents when they retired!!

In 1989/90 this coinage was scrapped for an even smaller and more mediocre one that focussed on animals and plants again with coats of arms, coins up to 5 Rand were issued. However by this time 5 Rand was worth 50 cents! One exciting part though was when African rule arrived in 1994, the coins took turns having inscriptions in each of the 14 official languages of South Africa and English (Afrikaans was relegated to the status of just one of the 14 official languages with English being the supreme language now and this was mostly as many "Coloured" and "Khoisan" people spoke Afrikaans rather than Boers).

So after 68 years the Halfcrown was retired in South Africa.

OTHER AFRICAN NATIONS
Update - 8 June 2020 with my purchase of 2 Southern Rhodesian Halfcrowns.


The Southern Rhodesian Half crown design 1932 - 1954

Besides South Africa other African colonies issued coins and the next major one was Southern Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe). They had a large White Population too based in Harare and Bulawayo. Mostly gone after the Mugabe era clearances and racism.


Type 2 George Inscription "King" to right of crown. Rhodesia and Nyasaland type.
They became a dominion in 1926 and got their own coinage in 1932 which had the gorgeous Kruger Gray designs on both sides. The coinage featured holed pence and halfpence and half silver 3d, 6d, shilling, florin and halfcrown. Despite it being a dominion, the crowned effigies were used on coins of the colony through to 1964.

Rhodesian 1960s Halfcrown/25c coin


The coins were also bizarre in the sense they were 0.925 Sterling Silver to 1946 and then changed straight to Cupronickel. The design showed the miners pick on the shield and lions surrounded by Maces on the top. A cypher of GV or GVI on left side panels and RI (Rex Imperator) on the right side panel.


Kruger Grey's portrait first used here - Crowned for George VI (1938 onwards - King was moved to right of crown)

Again Southern Rhodesian coins used a Crowned shield Obverse and this one played up the mining heritage of the colony. Unlike South Africa, the Blacks had a few more rights and it had a white run government but never reached the level of white dominions like South Africa, New Zealand and Canada. My guess is because these coins were also used in other Southern African colonies like North Rhodesia and Nyasaland which were colonies and even in SR there were high numbers of "Subjects" rather than "Settlers".

In late 1953, the colonies of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) were joined with the dominion of Southern Rhodesia and a new colony of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was established. All 3 places used the same coinage and again whites controlled everything, with a few chiefs being consultants - but Blacks mostly as miners, peons and paying hut taxes.

This bought a new coinage like the middle halfcrown. Elizabeth was crowned on the coins.

In 1963 the union was abolished and Zambia and Malawi gained independence in 1964, Rhodesia alsod eclared independence and it was not accepted due to the Apartheid style rule.

New coins were issued in decimal and sterling currency and a half crown showing an antelope was in 25c and 2/6. However decimal currency only came in 1970 and the Halfcrown was not reissued in the new system which had a 20c and 50c coin.

ONE MORE DIVERSION - MALAWI


Stolen from the Numista catalogue!!

It seems that newly independent Malawi issued a set of coins from 1d to 5/- in 1964 (Penny in 1968) and this included a halfcrown. It was issued one year only. But is fairly common (6.4 million) and the coin showed the arms of the newly independent nation and word Halfcrown (As the former Rhdoesian coins). On the obverse was Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1895 - 1994) first President.

The coin only lasted until 1971, when the sterling currency gave way to the Kwacha made up of 100 Tambala. No Tambala denomination added up to the halfcrown.

Unlike South Africa, all the Rhodesian coins had the word "Half crown" on them as they had primarily British settlers and very few if any Afrikaners (Some did settle Rhodesia and even Kenya - the town of Eldoret has many of them, descendants of Boer War veterans).

MOST OF THE BRITISH/EMPIRE AND COMMONWEALTH PASSED ON HALFCROWNS
Many other African nations and colonies passed on Halfcrowns.

British West Africa stopped at the Florin, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria all issued 2 shilling coins but not Halfcrowns. East Africa was a Shillings and cents system and Middle eastern currencies of Piastres, Lira, Millemes etc dominated Sudan and Egypt.

Africa's choice was emulated in the rest of the Empire.

Even the Caribbean had no half crowns and the currencies of Fiji and Australia avoided them. the New Guinean coins stopped at 1 shilling and most other British Island colonies used Fijian, Australian and New Zealand coins until the decimal era.

Only two more places had halfcrowns - Ireland and my homeland - New Zealand.

Ireland Half Crowns 1928 - 1967

Ireland was part of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1922 and was using British currency including their half crowns in this period and even before 1801.
With the Free State being established in Feb 1922, they continued to use British coins and it was not until 1928, they had their own coins issued.


Irish Halfcrowns with early (To 1939) and late (1939 - present) reverses

A series of Irish coins from a farthing to a Halfcrown were designed by the English designer Percy Metcalfe and these showed animals on them. The Halfcrown showed a Horse (Although some say its a mule). Numista has it as an "Irish Hunter Horse".

The plain and understated design would survive until the end of the coin in 1969 and was revived on the Brass 20pence issued between 1986 and 2001.

The coin like all the others was in Irish script and used the words "Leit Coroin" which was Irish for Half Crown!

Numbers issued were never very high (low millions at most). Ireland only had a population of 3 million at the time and until the 1970s, most Irish were fairly poor.

Coins from 1928 to 1943 were .750 silver and this wore quite easily as my examples show, 1928 saw a large first year mintage of over 2 million, however coins minted in 1930, 31, 33, 34 only had between 150 and 300k and 1937 saw just 40k issued.

In 1939 the words "Saorstat Ireland" was dropped due to the new Constitution and eventual Republic. This happened back in 1937, but 1937 dated coins had the old inscription. The Irish constitution stated the country was known as "Eire" and this has survived on their coins to today.


All my Irish halfcrowns - 10 dates, Top 4 coins are silvers.

Coins were issued every year between 1939 and 1943 - the years 1939 and 1940 saw reasonably high mintages of close to 1 million, the next 2 are more scarce at 300k or so and 1943 is incredibly rare with just 1,000. This was the last year the coins were issued in silver.

Proofs were issued every year they were minted - they are incredibly rare.
All of the Irish coins to 1975/6 were minted in the UK by the Royal Mint.

Later Irish Halfcrowns 1951 - 1967

There was a long period where no higher value Irish coins were issued at all. Ireland did not participate in WW2 and remained neutral, but the war's effects were felt, the main one being the end of silver coins, although only the Shilling/Florin and Half Crown had been silver anyway with 6d and 3d being base metal since 1928.


A very worn 1951 Irish Halfcrown

New halfcrowns were not issued until 1951, but when they were Ireland was now a full Republic and the coins were now Cupro nickel. Large numbers were also issued, Ireland was not as poor, but the coins saw huge use and absolutely UNC 1950s coins are scarce. Most are gVG (Like the one above) to VF (cupronickel was more durable than silver).

Coins were issued in 1951, 54, 55, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, and 1967. Most had high numbers entering the millions. However only 400k were issued in 1954 and less than 1 million each in 1951 and 1966 (Most 1966 coins were part of the Green folder set)


The 1966 "Green wallet" set.

By the late 60s, the writing was on the wall for the Halfcrown and its predecimal buddies. As planning for the decimal currency meant a smooth transistion, any coin without a decimal equivalent was demonitised swiftly.

The last issue of Halfcrowns in 1967 was fairly large at 2 million, but these lasted until decimalisation. The denomination was finally retired on 31 December 1969, some 13 months before decimalisation. Only the 1/-, 2/- really lasted until 1971.

Most Irish coins had an end issue date of 1968 or even 1969 for the 6d, but only the farthing and half crown were retired in 1967. My guess is they wanted people to adopt the slightly less valuable Florin. Also the 50p was debuted in 1969 and this was used as a 10/- coin until decimal day. The halfcrown was nearly the same size (But different shaped) and worth 4 times as much!

1962 and 1964 saw particularly high mintages of 3.2 million each, the highest in the whole series. Some 50k of the 1961 coins also had a fault in which the obverse of 1928/37 was used and these are rare. Proofs of all dates to 1963 also exist, but not 1964, 66 or 67.

My next post will get to New Zealand halfcrowns - my favourite.

Finally here we are

NEW ZEALAND HALFCROWNS

New Zealand got their currency very late on in the piece, and was the last country with Half crowns to get them besides the Independent African states of Rhodesia (1964) and Malawi(1964). New Zealand used British and Australian currency until 1933. In 1931 with the Depression, the Pound was devalued 10% against the Imperial pound and then by 25% in 1932. Yet New Zealanders used the Imperial coin as it had less silver than the Australian unit, also Halfcrowns were not issued by the Australians, who only had coins to the Florin.


Could have been used here rather than the UK

This meant that British halfcrowns were popular and heavily used here. With the pound here worth 25% less, it meant people could smuggle coins to Australia for a 10% bonus and the UK for 25% premium. Taking £1 worth of coin her got you 22/- in Sydney and 25/- in London. Smuggling became rife and stories proliferated of canisters full of coins, people carrying coins smuggled in suitcase outers, hatboxes with secret compartments and it was the Halfcrowns as these coins had the highest face value (Crowns were limited issue).

Finally in late 1932 when a man was robbed of £1000 of silver half crowns bound for England and several stewards on one boat had been paid £1 each to smuggle £50 of halfcrowns to Sydney for a woman, the government imposed limits of £5 of currency across the border and then down to £2. This did not stop smugglers.

Even worse was the coin shortages, NZ never had a surplus of coins arriving here and having them disappear did not help matters any more. Here is a story from 1933 about one act of smuggling.

https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/36386/smuggling-coins

It was also the Depression and here was a way to make some real money with little effort, the same man who was robbed of a grand's worth of halfcrowns had made £50 previously with a free steamship cruise and holiday in Sydney!

In mid 1933, it was decided New Zealand needed its own coins and designs were started with Kruger Grey designing 5 silver coins, a range from 3d to 2/6. They all featured New Zealand based designs. More details on NZ coin history in the world coin index, where I did some essays recently. Here I will stick to Halfcrowns.


The 1933 Halfcrown - 1st year (VF+ to gVF example)

Because the smuggling continued, urgency was placed in getting the coins. In the age before widely used cargo aircraft, we were reliant on ships and thus coins were made at the Royal Mint, orders placed in August 1933 - the Halfcrown was the first coin to be issued thanks to the smuggling problems. All the New Zealand coins were worth parts of a New Zealand pound only (15/- Imperial) and they would not attract any premium anywhere else, infact they were invalid outside New Zealand (Except the Island colonies of Samoa, Cooks and Tokelau). Even Fiji got its own coins the next year (Worth the same as an Aussie pound, but no halfcrowns either).

The first of the 2 million 1933 dated halfcrowns arrived in Auckland and Wellington in late November of 1933. They were distributed by December 1st and the British coins became invalid overnight, this ended the smuggling. The rest of the coins arrived in early 1934.

More to come....

George V Halfcrowns 1933 - 1935


1934 a stunning near EF example and my best KGV Halfcrown of NZ

These coins were the same size, weight and purity of the British halfcrowns of the 1927 - 1946 era - they were 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% Nickel and 5% Zinc, the same as Quartenary alloys. Like the British coins, gorgeous examples like these started off a silvery white thanks to the silver and nickel and wore to a gungy black colour (Thanks to the copper and zinc, and some even green up thanks to verdigris).


Darkening noticeable on more worn coins as shown here in this gradation.

The coins were designed by Kruger Gray for both sides and the Reverse was the same as the Southern Rhodesian one used in 1932, it also appeared on Fijian coins when they were issued the next year. This was different to the MacKennal effigy used on South Africa and the UK.

The Reverse design had New Zealand's crowned coat of arms keeping step with the design elements of all the Halfcrowns so far except the Irish one, but Maori touches were added with carved masks either side and Koru designs which filled up the face of the coin.
These were quite nice and survived through to the end of this coin in 1965.


1935 - A less common coin, this one is a bare VF

Issue numbers for the 3 years were high for 1933 (2 million) and 1934 (2.72 million) and these are easy to find in G to Fine condition, less easy in VF and hard in EF to UNC. Coins above EF are worth hundreds, but Average circulated pieces for all Half crowns are easy and barely cost more than the melt value at $7 - $15 depending on date.

VF coins like the ones I have cost around $20 - $50 depending on date and good value for the budget conscious collector like me. Their eye appeal is much better than average condition and the Reverse is pretty much wear free. George V loses a lot of detail below Fine and is flat at good. VF coins are also fairly easy to find and many can be confused for UNC by unsophisticated collectors. Even some higher Fine coins are nice and can have some lustre left!

1935 is a much scarcer date with just 612k issued and 364 proofs for the Proof set of 1935 with the rare 3d and super rare Waitangi crown. You pay more for these, twice as much for Average and 3 - 5x as much for EF up.

1936 had no coins issued.

Next George VI coins.

NZ Halfcrowns - King George VI Part 1


1937 (gVF)------------------- KGVI reverse 1937 - 1947 ---1940 Centennial Half crown (EF)

Like with most places, no Edward VIII coins were issued in New Zealand and 1937 dated Halfcrowns showed the uncrowned portrait of King George VI by Humphrey Paget. This was pretty new and only used on coins of UK, Australia, South Africa and Canada, the other places using a crowned effigy of the new King (Like the Southern Rhodesian Half crowns).

1937 saw a reasonable number of coins with 672,800 and most are easy to find again worn, better VF examples like mine cost more and figure spending big buckies for the EF and up ones.

Also many of the KGV coins were still in wide use and quantities of them were reasonable, more issuing came in the War years.

No coins were issued in 1938 and 1939 saw only the 3d and 6d. In 1940 a special "Centennial Half crown was issued" and showed a nice design by Leonard Mitchell with a Maori woman showing a scene in 1840 and 1940. It was tied in with the centennial exhibition in Wellington.

Only 100,800 (Including 800 proofs) were issued, but most were souvenired and many of them survive now in VF to EF condition quite cheap. More worn coins are scarce and fully UNC are not that rare, but a EF coin like mine I find is good enough - you only get light wear on King George.


1941 - EF-----------------------1942 - VF+ ------------------------1943 ------gEF

For the rest of the 1940s, Half crowns were issued every year and mintages varied from year to year and this influences my coin conditions. 1941 is fairly common with just under 1 million coins, 1942 is a scarce year with 240k and thus my coin is a bit more worn, 1943 was the biggest year since 1934 and biggest until the cupronickel era and hence my example is very nice.


1944 - bare VF -----------------1944 gEF borderline AU ------1946 gVF/aEF

1944 was the scarcest year in the silver and King George series with just 180k coins issued and high grade examples are hard to find, even average condition coins are much harder than the other dates and quite a lot of people don't have one. Even my bare VF coin cost me $50 which is a lot for a VF coin (Some of my EF pieces cost the same or only $40!)

1945 was a fairly scarce year too with 420k and the coins are slightly harder to find, but easier than 1944 - I got very lucky with my coin as it has toning stains at the top.
1946 was the last year of silver halfcrowns and the mintage was high at just under 1 million coins. Compared to other 1940s dates, it is an easy date like 1941 and 1943.

Wear on these obverses is not obvious down to VF and you can tell the VFs from EF's here with the latter shining more than the former. Also you will notice the 1942/44 ones you can see slight wear on the left carvings.


Gradations of wear EF+ -------------High VF ----------------------Low VF (Nasty black wear)
(Ignore cleaning spot on EF coin, not done by me).

You will notice EF and better coins have no visible wear, but VF ones have wear on the cheek, crown hairlines and down on the jaw line too. Borderline VF/Fine coins have heavy flat patches on hair and on the neck of George.

Next Cupronickel George coins.

GEORGE VI - THE CUPRONICKEL YEARS 1947 - 1951


1947 (gFine/aVF) the first cupronickel coin and only one with "Emperor" in this metal

Starting with 1947, they had to change the metal composition of the coins from 3d to 2/6 because of the cost of war and a massive silver loan Britain had to pay back to the Americans. This meant that all coins of Britain, Ireland and New Zealand amongst many other colonial territories and Dominions Britain made coins for would no longer have silver in them (It did not include South Africa, Canada, Australia - as these places minted their own coins with their own metal supplies or bought the metal in independently of British involvement).

So starting with 1947 dated coins, they were made in an alloy of 25% Nickel and 75% copper and the nickel was plated over the copper - wear of course darkens them from a shiny chrome colour (Check out the 1949 and 1950 Wide date coins!) to a dull grey black, some may even have green verdigris from the copper. Many of the earlier silver coins were bought back to the mint and melted so the silver content could be paid back to the Americans, but hoarding and collecting the coins ensured many survived and ended up being shown in lengthy Numista threads 75 years later!

Because of this, mintage figures of the Cupro nickel Half crowns of George VI are much higher than all the silver dates except 1933 and 1934. 1947 and 1948 had numbers of 1.6 and 1.4 million and then 1949 had 2.8 million, the largest to date and bigger than 1934! 1950 had the biggest total yet with an incredible 3.6 million and by this stage they had replaced all the silver ones in numbers - yet many silver coins survived through to the decimal (1967) era! Most by this stage were heavily worn. None of my coins shown except possibly 1947, 1950 narrow date and 1951 really saw much use and were almost certainly "souvenired".


1948 (EF) ----------------------------1949 (AU/gEF) ---------------------1948/51 Reverse portrait

In 1951, an additional 1.2 million coins were minted, but these and many of the 1950 coins were stored in a vault like most surplus coins and only issued when needed. In this case many 1950 Narrow date and 1951 coins were released only in 1963/64 when a shortage of Halfcrowns loomed and thus many are found in VF and gVF condition! No halfcrowns were issued dated 1952 and unlike the UK, no proofs or trials are known to exist. Although all the coins from Halfpenny to Shilling were issued in 1952.


1950 narrow date (AU)----------1950 wide date (gFine) ------------1951 (VF/gVF)

In 1950 two types were issued with neither being rare - but hard to tell apart. The first was the "wide date" with 1950 sapced a bit further apart with rim closer to the numbers and KG near the diamond. This was similar to the 1949 coins. The narrow date had higher thinner numerals further from rim and KG closer to it. This is similar to the 1951 and later coins.

Buying these era of coins is easy at least in New Zealand, they are popular as they are large coins and very cheap in VG - Fine condition for 1947 to 1950 and up to VF for 1951 merely costing 50c to $1 each. Finding coins above gVF is much harder than it looks and you all may be shocked my EF/AU examples of these cost me a phenomenal $50 each on average! These are as expensive as the silver dates. Truly UNC coins are in the mid to high $100s! Only the 1950 Narrow date is cheap in UNC at $80 or so, hence why my AU coin cost me only $33.

Reverse quality on a gFIne/aVF coin

For the budget conscious collector, there is no shame in having gFine examples of these pieces for a cheap price and getting a 1963 or 1965 in AU or UNC condition very cheaply! A gFine coin is generally clean with light overall wear on the shield (Only the lips on the left mask should have flattening) and George should have a full headline with some hair visible.

If the coin has flattened letters, heavy wear on George and quite grubby - avoid it as there are better ones available - the worst are generally VG and should be avoided.

Next we have Elizabethan Half crowns!

THE HALFCROWNS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II: 1953 - 1963


1953 - VF --------------------------Strapless Effigy (1953) --------Strapped Effigy (1961 - 65)

Compared to the earlier coins, the Halfcrowns of Queen Elizabeth II were less interesting, there was only 5 dates of them for a start. Due to the glut of Halfcrowns and Florins issued between 1947 and 1951 to replace the silver coins - there was little need for more of them until 1961. And then in the 1960s with Decimal currency looming, there was little need for this denomination.

1953 saw the Coronation of the new Queen and thus a new coinage. Again it was decided to keep the Kruger Gray obverse of 1933 for this reign as it was still bold and did not look dated. All 7 denominations were issued in 1953 and also a special crown, hence why the coins were made. The numbers minted in 1953 were very low with just 120k for general circulation and 7k proof coins. Fine and VF coins abound with better ones less common, but not costing very much compared to early dates (1953 and 1961 halfcrowns are $50 - $100 in full UNC, but easily $10 or so for high VF/EF examples. the fact I have a standard coin shows how little interest I have in upgrading one (I may buy a 1953 Proof set).


1961 (gVF/close to EF) ------------1962 (AU/UNC) --------------------1963 (AU)

There were no halfcrowns or florins issued at all between 1953 and 1961. In 1961 a limited issue of half crowns was made as by now, the 1940s and 1950s coins were getting fairly worn and there was some demand for them. However the population now was wealthier and there was more use of the low value 10/- and £1 notes than coins. Still at 80k, 1961 is the rarest date of half crown issued for New Zealand. 1961 coins have a slight premium in average (F - VF) condition and UNC coins, although scarce cost half as much as 1953's in EF but same in UNC. Many collections surprisingly are missing a 1961 and even mine only came a few months ago!

1962 was the only fairly common year of this era, with 600k issued all for general circulation, Uncirculated examples of this coin are very cheap at $8 - $10 and figure just $1 for an average coin. By this stage an average coin is a high VF and even EF example. Later halfcrowns saw very little use.

1963 is also a common coin at 400k issued, but being so recent saw little use until the denomination was retired in late 1965 to make way for decimal coins (The new 50 cents was slightly smaller but worth twice as much as a Half crown). 1963 was the last date for general circulation and no 1964 dated Half crowns were made. In fact when there was a shortage in mid 1964, they dug into the vaults to find bags of 1950 and 1951 dated coins and put these into circulation.

1965 - THE LAST HALFCROWNS AND WITHDRAWAL
(Most of my information from the superb book by Robert Pepping "New Zealand's history coined, Wellington 2017 - available online on Trademe and ebay too I think) It is an essential read for anyone seriously considering the collection of New Zealand predecimal coins).


1965 (UNC - standard finish) ---------Obverse (Standard non proof coins have a weak Obverse strike)

The 1965 coin is a bit of a misnomer as it was a set only coin and came out only in the sets released in late 1966! Withdrawal of Halfcrowns began earlier in 1965.

By 1963, it was decided that New Zealand would adopt decimal currency in 1967 and steps were made to ready the population and commerce. This involved adapting the coins and any coin that could not equate with the new currency was history. The first part was to reduce the number of Pennies, Halfpence and 3d along with Halfcrowns. The lowest 3 coins were too vital and all but the penny were released in 1964 and 1965 (The penny did have 18 million coins for 1964).

In April 1965 it was announced the Halfcrown was no longer legal tender from May 3 1965 - mainly as this coin would equate to 25 cents new currency and the new 50 cent coin, which would be cupronickel and not silver like Australia was ever so slightly smaller yet similar sized (It is 31.75mm and weighs 13.84grams next to the 14.14grams and 32.1mm size of a half crown)


1965 Pink set with Halfcrown - 1967 Proof set with 50 cent ,a 50 cent amongst a 10c and 2c (1968)

After 3 May the Halfcrown was still legal tender, but it was up to shops and individuals if they accepted it and banks were obligated to redeem then until Decimal Day on July 10 1967 and no doubt a bit later. A huge recall was underway for 2 reasons.

1. All Cupronickel Halfcrown coins (1947 - 1963) were sold to the Aussies for 2d each for the metal to make their new coins, Australian coins to 1964 had all been silver and copper, the 5c, 10c and 20c of the new series were copper nickel and also 50c from 1968.
2. Silver halfcrowns would be redeemed to the Royal Mint at 1/9 each and the cost would defray from the minting costs of the new decimal coins minted between 1965 and 1967 (All dated 1967).

The next problem was sorting silver from cupronickel, it was believed nearly £2 million of coins were in circulation (About 15 million half crowns) and of these 3 million were silver. The DSIR scinetists invented a machine that registered currents and the cupronickel coins landed near the machine, the silver ones flinging away further. Only £1.5 million of coins came in and some £400k worth (About 2 million coins) were souvenired, disappeared or already owned by collectors - every coin I have shown you would have been one of them!).

In return jumbo numbers of Florins, 1/- and 6d were minted for general circulation to cover the void, many people lamented the loss of the coin before time and even doggerel poems were written about it.

"The silver anchor, flung across the bar"


The 1965 Penny and Half Crown -------3 grades of set ------------Ultra scarce Ballot set.

The 1965 coin had 200k made and these were only in the sets issued in late 1966. The coins were issued in 3 grades - Standard Unciculated (Pink label) which cost just 1/- to make and 10/- to the people. The Green sets were "Selected collectors coins" which were still standard coins, but taken off the belts before they landed in the bags and these were £1 each and cost 7/6 each to make. The top grade was the Blue label set with "Polished Proof coins" - prooflike but not proof, still these coins were struck twice, hand selected and cost some 18/6 to make with them costing £2 each.

500 Ballotted sets were also issued costing £3 each and offered to Coin clubs and dignitaries - these are very rare now and had the plush case like the 1953 set - but in reality the coin quality was the same as a blue set and because they were not packaged, the coins are often tarnished along with the cases. In my opinion, many Pink set coins are perfectly fine. All the sets sold out on 16 Nov 1966, the day of release.

100k of the Pink, 75k of the Green and 25k of the Blue were issued with 500 Ballot sets additional - in my opinion a blue set is nice to get (And I may buy one) but Pink coins are fine for your collection - an uncirculated 1965 Halfcrown should cost no more than $10 and some are as little as $2.

A few did circulate when some people opened their sets to spend the coins, so you may see an EF one but worn (Under VF) Halfcrowns of this year would be rare. I have even seen unscrupulous individuals cut up 1965 sets and just sell the Penny and Half crown separately so people can fill their gaps!

Bear in mind only the Penny and Half Crown were set only coins in 1965 - the Halfpenny, 3d, 6d, 1/- and Florin all circulated and you can see coins worn down to VF easily and because the last 3 coins circulated as 5c, 10c and 20c coins, they were found in change up to 2006 and I have seen 1965 coins worn down to VG condition!

This concludes the story of NZ Halfcrowns and my historical articles in general for this thread - now it will be a window to show new coins of the Half crown persuasion added by me and you!!!

New additions to my Half Crown family!


A VG William III halfcrown with the early harp
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces127638.html


1903 UK Halfcrown a semi key and second rarest after 1905


1904, a semi key and this is in pretty decent condition too - goodFine to aVF

I have definitely slowed down the accumulation since the last post, mainly as I have been buying lots of florins and upgrading my NZ collection. However the few half crowns that I have added are all important ones, pretty much in order here.

1697 E Possibly a Chaloner fake?


1835 William IV a scarce date


Very worn but essential Type 1 George IV - 1821

Also some Victoria Young heads


1849 Small 9, a scarce coin almost fine, but badly cleaned.





1875/78/81 I pretty much paid melt for them when silver was $20 an ounce (NZD $15 - $23 each)

And finally today


A Boer halfcrown dated 1896

and>>>>>> THE BIG PRIZE OF HALFCROWNS


1905 The super rarity of them all!

I have an [almost] complete collection by year of British milled Halfcrowns. They are absolutely my favourite.

Well we would love to see some of them, especially the rare dates and anything nicer than what I have which would be 99% of anything before 1939!

One more nice halfcrown


AU 1938 UPgrade piece!

And some less nice ones



Super worn 1817 Bull head and 1820 George IV (Spacefillers)
gVG 1834 and 1924 (Yes these are upgrades!)

Hi, I've started collecting british empire coins recently. Mostly because of a folder of pennies I got from an auction. Bigger coins are also desirable. I thought I would share my half crowns and florins. 3 of each is all I have got my hands on. edit(Guess I can't count to 7 but hey it's in different holder)


Half crowns on left side and florins on right.
1929,1942,1945 and 1687 James II
Florins are 1890 and Australian 1927,1951

Some day I hope to have a Victoria gothic crown, florin whatever really :D