COIN PRICE GUIDE
British Coin Price Guide
The British Crown Coin A Bit of History
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The name Crown comes from the French gold coronne coins issued in the fourteenth century. The Crown first appeared as a British coin denomination in 1544 under Henry VIII. This was a gold coin with a value of five shillings known as the "Crown of the Rose". This coin was the first British gold coin to be made from 22 carat gold, rather than the previous standard of 23 carat. The first silver crown was produced in 1551 under Edward VI, it was one of the first British coins to bear the date in Arabic numerals. Since then the silver crown has always been the largest regularly issued British silver coin. From 1551, crowns were issued in both gold and silver, until the gold crown was discontinued after 1662. The crowns issued by Charles II and the succeeding monarchs are very popular coins, because the large size meant that the portrait could be engraved in great detail, and they are magnificent works of art.
There were four different crown designs issued for Queen Victoria.
Young Head 1839-47
The first design carried a portrait of the young Victoria with a bare head, the reverse design is a large shield bearing the Royal Arms, crowned and within a laurel wreath.
Gothic Design 1847 and 1853
The second Victorian crown type was the Gothic design, with a large bust of the queen wearing a crown and an ornately embroidered dress. the reverse design is cruciform shields, with roses, thistles and shamrocks. The inscriptions on both sides are in Gothic script, and are unusual in being in lower case, except for the capital letter V of Victoria.
Jubilee Design 1887-1892
As with all the silver and gold coinage, the crown was changed in 1887 to the new design for the Golden Jubilee, and features Victoria's Jubilee portrait, more mature, facing left, wearing a small coronet and this design continued until 1892. The reverse features Benedetto Pistrucci's magnificent design of St, George on horseback slaying the dragon, first used on gold sovereigns of George III in 1817.
Old or Widowed or Veiled Head 1893-1900
The final design change for Victoria was to the "Old" or "Widowed" or "Veiled" head design in 1893, and this continued until the final year of her reign in 1901. The design features the older veiled portrait of Queen Victoria, crowned facing left. The reverse again features Pistrucci's George and Dragon. The edges of the Old Head crowns are stamped with the regnal year, starting with LVI in the first part of 1893. There are two regnal dates per calendar year, as the queen's accession to the throne was in June 1837.
After the reign of Queen Victoria the crown was really only struck for commemorative or collector's purposes.
Unusually, no crowns were issued in 1911, George V's Coronation year.
First Type (Wreath)
First Type (Wreath)
In 1937 a crown was struck to commemorate the Coronation of George VI.
Festival of Britain Type
Crowns maintained their face value as five shillings until decimalisation in 1971. The decimal issues from 1972 to 1981 inclusive, also maintained the equivalent value of 25 new pence.
1972 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Wedding
Elizabeth II Five Pound Crown Coins