British Coin Key Dates Home British Coin Key Dates British Coin Key Dates This page contains a list of all the non gold slightly scarcer British predecimal coin 'Key Dates' since 1821, for all denominations. Please be aware that condition is always by far the most important thing where coin collectors are concerned. Even if you do have a coin from a date listed on this page it doesn't mean it's highly sought after or that rare, just that it's usually a little harder to find than its 'dated neighbours'. Often key date coins if Fine grade or below are worth little more, or sometimes about the same as the commoner dates. The list was compiled including all the usual scarcer date British coins (some of them legendary!) with additions of other coins made according to current catalogue values. I have not included mint errors (e.g letters/numbers struck on top of other characters), proofs, gold coins or colonial issued coins. Most of the coins on this page are worth between £1 and £10 with the excessively rare coins (marked with a ' * ') being worth a small fortune.

All silver coins issued before 1920 are sterling (.925) Silver, and all coins issued between 1920 and 1946 contain 50% silver (.500) so because of the bullion content these coins are usually worth a little more than the post 1947 'Silver' coins. By denomination, Lowest first: Farthing 1842. 1844. 1849. 1859. 1860 (Larger copper type with date under the Queen). 1863. 1895 (Bun head Victoria). 1937* Edward VIII. Half Penny 1825. 1843. 1845. 1860* (Larger copper type with date under the Queen). 1871. 1902 (Lower tide on reverse). 1904 slightly scarcer than normal. 1957 with a calm sea is scarcer. Penny 1837. 1843. 1849. 1860 bronze bun type is scarcer in certain varieties, the most commonly found is very common.

1861 as 1860. 1869. 1871. 1875H ('H' below date). 1895 with no sea. 1902 with low tide. 1912H ('H' Next to date). 1918H ('H' Next to date). 1918KN ('KN' Next to date). 1919H ('H' Next to date). 1919KN ('KN' Next to date). 1926 with newer head type. 1933* Pattern only. 1937* Edward VIII. 1950. 1951. 1954*. Threepence (Silver small type) 1852. 1853. 1893 With Jubilee head. 1937* Edward VIII. 1945* (Must be silver) strictly a colonial coin, but worth putting in for it's £4,000 value! 1953 (Must be the silver maundy type). Threepence (Brass 12 sided type) 1937* Edward VIII. 1946.

1949. Fourpence or Groat Did You Know? - Pre-Decimal Coins Did You Know? - Pre-Decimal Coins Pre-Decimal Crown Twelve pennies in a shilling and twenty shillings in a pound.... It's now over 40 years since the £ s d currency which had been used in the UK and Scotland was swept away and 240 pence to the pound were replaced by 100 new pence to the pound. Decimal Day (15 February 1971) was when the changeover took place. You'll note that in the collection of pre-decimal coins below, there is not a pound coin, far less one for two pounds as we have today. That was because in 1971 there were paper pound notes in circulation and the pound coin was not introduced until 1983 to replace the Bank of England one pound note; the Scottish banks (who are permitted to issue banknots but not coins) continued to issue one pound notes - the Royal Bank of Scotland in particular kept them going, sometimes as special commemorative issues. See Scottish Banknotes .

Farthing The word farthing is derived from the Anglo-Saxon feorthing, or fourth part An English penny. The farthing was first minted in silver in the 13th century and then after the Union of the Scottish and English Parliaments in 1707, a British farthing, made of base metal, was minted in 1714. It continued to be used until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender and so were no longer in use by Decimal Day in 1971. Half Penny This coin began its 700 year history made from silver but as the value of silver increased, the coin was made from base metals. "Halfpenny", was pronounced HAY-pe-nee. It was long considered that the first halfpenny coins were produced in the reign of King Edward I (1272�1307), with earlier requirements for small change being provided by "cut coinage" - pennies cut into halves or quarters.

However, in recent years metal detectorists have discovered a few halfpennies of Kings Henry I (1100�1135) and Henry III (1216�1272). The halfpenny ceased to be minted in 1969 prior to decimalisation. Penny The "penny" originated as far back as the 8th century when a silver coin was minted (in England) which was one 240th part of a pound weight of silver. There were thus "240 pennies to a pound (of silver)". Pennies made of silver were minted until about 1750, then occasionally until about 1820; thereafter, they were only minted for Maundy money (when the British Monarch ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" as symbolic alms to elderly recipients. From 1797, pennies for general circulation were minted in copper. Twelve pence made one shilling and so 240 pennies made a pound. To express an amount, penny was usually abbreviated to "d", e.g. 1d, from the Roman denarius.

The penny introduced at decimalisation (with 100 pennies to the pound) was a much smaller coin and was initially called a "new penny" to distinguish it from its predecessor. The original reverse of the new coin initially had "NEW PENNY" in the design but this changed to just "ONE PENNY" in 1982. "Silver" Threepence The silver three pence coin (expressed in writing as "3d") first appeared in England during the reign of King Edward VI (1547�1553). But it was unpopular as many preferred the four pence piece (known as a "groat") and there were times when it was not minted. During the reign of king George V (1910�1936) the silver content was reduced from sterling silver to a mixture of silver (50%),copper, and nickel and the design was completely changed in 1927 to three oak sprigs with three acorns and a "G" in the centre. By the end of George V's reign the threepence had become somewhat unpopular in England because of its small size, but it remained popular in Scotland.

It may be that the custom of putting threepence coins (wrapped in greaseproof paper) into Christmas cakes may have contributed to its continued popularity! A nickel-brass threepence took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947. Only small numbers were produced. Brass Threepence A new, larger, nickel-brass (79% copper, 20% zinc, 1% nickel) twelve-sided threepence coin was introduced at the time of the short reign of King Edward VIII and took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947. Initially the design incorporated a representation of the thrift plant but in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II the design became a Tudor portcullis with chains and a coronet. Following decimalisation, the brass threepence ceased to be legal tender after 31 August 1971. Sixpence The sixpence, worth six pre-decimal pennies, was known colloquially as a "tanner".

In England, the first sixpences were struck in the reign of Edward VI in 1551 and continued until they were rendered obsolete by decimalisation in 1971.The last general issue sixpence was issued in 1967 but sixpences continued to be legal tender at a value of 2� new pence until 30 June 1980. The coins were made of sterling silver until 1920, when they were reduced to 50 percent silver until 1946, after which they were changed to cupro-nickel from 1947 onwards. As the supply of silver threepence coins slowly disappeared, sixpences replaced them as the coins put into Christmas puddings. The traditional song "I've Got Sixpence" runs: "I've got sixpence. Jolly, jolly sixpence. I've got sixpence to last me all my life.

I've got twopence to spend and twopence to lend And twopence to send home to my wife." Shilling The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The abbreviation for shilling is the letter "s", from the Latin solidus, the name of a Roman coin. In England, a shilling coin was used from the reign of Henry II (or Edward VI ca 1550) until the Acts of Union ended the Kingdom of England (when, in the terms of Article 16 of the Articles of Union created by the Acts of Union of 1707, a common currency for the new United Kingdom was created). Because the shilling had the king's head on it, when a man agreed "to take the King's shilling" (or the Queen's shilling as the case may be) it meant that he agreed to serve as a soldier or sailor. Following decimalisation the British shilling was superseded by the five-pence piece with a comparable value, size and weight.

The pre-decimal shilling was withdrawn from circulation in 1990, when a five pence piece of reduced size was introduced. Two Shillings (Florin) The British two shilling coin, also known as the florin or "two bob bit" was issued from 1849 until 1967. It was worth one tenth of a pound, or twenty-four old pence. In 1847 a motion had been introduced in Parliament calling for the introduction of a decimal currency and the issue of coins of one-tenth and one-hundredth of a pound. The motion was subsequently withdrawn on the understanding that a one-tenth pound coin would be produced to test public opinion. There was considerable discussion about what the coin should be called, with centum, decade, and dime being among the suggestions. Eventually, florin was eventually settled upon, partly because of its connection with old English coinage, and partly because other European countries also had coins of approximately the same size and weight called florins.

In the reign of Queen Victoria a new design for the florin is said to have shock, including (allegedly) to Queen Victoria herself, was the omission of D G � Dei Gratia ("by the grace of God") � from the coin's inscription, which resulted in it being popularly known as the godless florin. The two shilling pieces produced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II had the reverse showing a Tudor rose in the centre surrounded by thistles, shamrocks, and leeks, symbols for Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Half Crown This oddity, as the name suggests, was worth half of a crown, or equivalent to two and a half shillings (30 pennies). It has a long history, having been issued (in silver) as early as 1549, in the reign of Edward VI. The half crown was demonetised (ahead of other pre-decimal coins) on 1 January 1970, the year before the United Kingdom adopted decimal currency on Decimal Day.

In the reign of George VI (1937�1952), half crowns were 50% silver until 1946 when the metal was changed to cupro-nickel. Crown Although issued in England prior to the unification of Scotland and England, the British crown came into being with the Union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707. As with the English coin, its value was five shillings, which was a quarter of one pound. During the 19th and 20th centuries the Crown declined from being a real means of exchange to being a coin rarely spent but minted for commemorative purposes only. In that format it has continued to be minted into the 21st century, even following decimalization of the British currency in 1971. However, as the result of inflation the value of such crowns has been revised upwards to five pounds. The picture here is of the crown issued in 1953 and 1960 in Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Decimalisation When computers came in the scene in the late 1950s and 1960s, they had to be programmed to deal with pounds, shillings and pence. Most systems converted values to pennies for internal working and converted them back to £,s,d when printed out or displayed on a computer screen. This was before pocket calculators had come on the scene - they would have struggled with £ s d.. But gradually, a decimal currency was seen to be more efficient. Of course, there was an emotional resistance from some to the loss of the traditional monetary system. Computer systems, banks and retailers had to prepare for the conversion well in advance of the cutover in 1971, not just for new and updated programs but also to train their staff in the new coins. As with the run-up to the Millennium, nearly 30 years later, all the hard work and preparations paid off and the changeover took place smoothly.

Banks were closed from 3:30pm on Wednesday, 10 February 1971 until 10:00am on Monday 15 February, to enable all outstanding cheques and credits in the clearing system to be processed and customers' account balances to be converted to decimal. New pennies and half penny coins were introduced but the old coins were temporarily assigned new values - the florin became 10 new pence, the shilling became 5 new pence and the old sixpenny coin filled a role as 2.5 new pence for a short while. To avoid confusion with the old currency, the term "New Pence" was brought into use with the letter "p" instead of the previous "d". Fairly rapidly, the general public dropped the word "new" and prices became what sounded like, for example "99 pee". Decimal Day itself went smoothly and after February 15, shops continued to accept payment in old coins, but always issued change in new coins. Use the "Back" button on your browser or click here to return to the Index of "Did You Know?" Where else would you like to go in Scotland?

Links Pages Pre-decimal British coinage | Uncyclopedia | Fandom powered by Wikia Whoops! Maybe you were looking for LSD ? “If I give you a sovereign, can I see your thruppenny bits?” ~ Noel Coward Fifty pre-decimal pennies from 1959. This much money would have been sufficient to purchase a four-bedroomed house and a Morris Oxford V . Prior to decimalisation, when Great Britain and Ireland adopted a confusing monetary system based around a pound made up of one hundred pennies, a far more logical system known as LSD was used. L, S and D are the first letters of the names given to the different units of coin - L obviously stands for pounds and D stands for pennies (or pence). So far, everything is straightforward. Oddly however, S stands for shillings. Though pre-decimal currency is thought confusing by people under the age of 40 and foreigners , it really was much easier than the current system - and will undoubtedly be reintroduced if right-thinking British people get their way - as we shall see here. For the religious among us who choose to believe lies, the so-called experts at Wikipedia have an article about Pre-decimal British coinage .

Contents [ show ] Farthing A farthing was equal to one quarter of a penny and would have been the weekly wage expected by the average working man up until the late 1920s when the Great Depression caused wages to fall dramatically. Very few women worked in those days (those that did were generally engaged in traditional female employment and were looked down upon by society); those that did were paid less than this amount because, strange as it may seem in these times of equality , it was then considered that a woman's work was worth less than a man's. However, as there was no coin worth less than a farthing, a group of four women would have to share one farthing between themselves and grocery shop as a group, splitting the purchases amongst themselves after buying. Although the farthing was insufficient to purchase anything at all post-1950, the coin was kept in circulation because the British population with their nostalgic love of pointless tradition had a great fondness for it and the cute picture of a wren on the back. Farthings were 13 inches wide, 4 inches thick and weighed 60lb.

Halfpenny Two farthings made a halfpenny which had a depiction of a galleon in full sail on the obverse as a reminder of our proud nation's glorious naval tradition which led to the Empire and all the good things that came of it. A halfpenny was what your grandad got for his weekly pocket money when he was seven years old back in 1920 and, as he's so fond of telling you, was enough money to see a western of a Saturday afternoon and still have enough change left over for a bag of chips and a packet of Woodbines on the way home. A halfpenny was much smaller than a farthing in order to be more portable, measuring just 10 inches across and 2.5 inches thick with a weight of only 36lb. Penny This old dear is having a well-earned breather after carrying her penny halfway to the village shop. When she gets there, she'll spend it on catfood , cabbages , whisky and her BNP membership fee.

Four farthings or two halfpennies made a penny, an incredible sum of money to the working classes , and enough to buy a modern house with sufficiently modern facilities as to be hygienic enough that only four of your twelve children would die before their first birthdays. 240 pennies made a pound, with each coin measuring just under 41 inches wide and 11 inches thickness with a weight of 134lb. As previously mentioned, penny was abbreviated to d. As seen in the photograph, one penny was the state weekly pension for many years. However, as Britain has become more prosperous, the pension has risen time and time again with many elderly people now living luxuriously on pensions of as much as twenty times this amount. Threepence The threepence coin, known as a threepenny bit.

The uniquely-shaped threepence coin, known as threepenny bit, was a convex regular polytope with a symmetry group of four-dimensional space, being a uniform star-polychoron the cells of which were 720 intersecting congruent pentagonal prisms of 120 vertices, 1200 edges, 1800 square faces and 720 pentagonal faces to connect the pentagonal prism cells to one another. Sixty cells came together at every vertex, and the squares were also faces of a uniform compound created of 75 tesseracts while the pentagons were also the faces of a standard star-polychoron. It measured a mere 8 inches across (its span of 7.32 lightyears in the 5th dimension was with typical British chippiness ignored by most citizens). It was 10 inches thick and weighed 96lb. . During the 1960's, it was not unknown for the threepenny bit to be given to children in Scotland for use for their church collection.

Sixpence Equal to Britain's entire defence budget in 1935, the sixpence was an enormously popular coin because, unlike those previously mentioned, it was made of a nice shiny metal and therefore looked all pretty and silvery . Interestingly, the modern 5p piece - which everybody hates and moans about because they say it's too small and gets stuck in the corners of your purse - is exactly the same dimensions as the old sixpence which was possibly the best-loved coin ever. There were 40 sixpences in a pound. Shilling Those who were tricked into taking the King's shilling would rapidly find themselves in the Navy, like these two unfortunates. Modern Navy uniforms are more revealing than these antique versions. Two sixpences or 12d made a shilling. The word shilling gave us the term shillinglaw, a practise by which naval recruitment officers would enter alehouses and place a shilling into the flagon of any healthy-looking males. If the drinker was unwary enough as to accidentally swallow the coin, he would be deemed to have "taken the King's shilling" and as such was officially now signed up as a member of the Navy .

He would then be hauled off to the nearest docks and put aboard a warship where his new career as a sailor would begin. So that it might be swallowed more easily, the shilling was a far smaller coin than those other mentioned here with a diameter of just 6 inches, a thickness of 2 inches and a weight of 14lb. 20 shillings made a pound. Florin A florin was equal to two shillings or 24d and was introduced during Victorian times in preparation for decimalisation, there being ten of them to a pound - in the usual British fashion, decimalisation didn't happen for another century due to having to pass through the House of Lords before being put into practice - and anything passing through the Lords, the members of which are generally well into their later years, can take a very long time indeed. A florin was slightly larger than a shilling, being 35 inches in width and 10 inches thick with a weight of 49lb. Half Crown The previous coins are all worth twice the amount of the coin below them in value with the exception of the threepence which was worth three times the coin below it.

This was considered illogical and likely to lead to confusion, so the half crown was worth two shillings and sixpence or 30d, written as 2/6, and as such there were eight of them to a pound. The British population were outraged when the coin was discontinued with the advent of decimalisation in 1971 as it had been a feature of the British way of life since time immemorial along with other popular venerable traditions such as cholera and smallpox . Made of wrought iron , the half crown was 32 inches across, 10 inches thick and weighed in at 42lb. Rather than being melted down for metal to make the new decimalised coinage in 1971, half crowns were put into use as manhole covers. These coins were also sellotaped to a Christmas or Birthday Card sent to you by relatives you didn't see very often, under the impression they'd given you a great deal of money to spend in the sales on new toys or the latest Bunty Annual. Double Florin This was introduced in Queen Victoria's Jubilee year of 1887, supposedly in an attempt to prepare for decimalisation.

As it was worth 4/- or 48d it's not clear where the arithmetic of this plan was going. They gave up minting it in 1890 but it was never withdrawn as legal tender, and since decimalisation its face value has been exactly 20p. However, as it is 22.6 grams of Sterling silver and rather rare you'd have to be Terry Fuckwitt to try spending one as a 20p piece. Equally, if someone tried to give you a Victorian double florin instead of a 20p piece you'd have to be Terry Fuckwitt to refuse it. Crown Once again, the system returns to a coin being worth double the value of the coin below it as a crown was worth two half crowns - 60d, or one quarter of a pound. Crowns are still minted and remain legal tender today, and so as not to confuse anyone have a value of five pounds.

Contrary to popular belief, the crown is not so-called after the symbol of the British monarchy but due to the fact that its size (18 inches wide, 4 inches thick) made it ideal as emergency headgear should one be caught out in a shower. Since they were made of gold-coloured metal, placing one upon the head would make the wearer look as though they were wearing a crown. A 1911 sovereign. Modern versions do not have the depiction of St. George killing the dragon after protests by anti-bloodsport campaigners persuaded the Royal Mint to change the design in 1988. Compare this £1 coin to the image on the left of the page. When first introduced, the £1 was known as a Thatcher because it was thick, brassy and thought it was a sovereign. Half Sovereign The half sovereign was worth ten shillings, 120d or two crowns. Half sovereigns are popular when made into rings, as worn by the wives and girlfriends of the sort of men mentioned in the section on sovereigns as females find the smaller size - just 19 inches wide, 9 inches thick with a weight of 73lb - more comfortable to wear.

Sovereign Sovereigns are worth far more than their face value nowadays as they've become popular when set into rings to make a very tasteful and attractive item of jewelry available from high class jewellers . These rings are commonly worn by chavs and large, bald-headed men because, in addition to their aesthetic value, they serve as very effective knuckle-dusters. Sovereigns were 45 inches across, 19 inches thick and weighed 105lb - explaining why the people who wear them as rings tend to drag their knuckles on the ground while walking. The Queen is still paid in sovereigns. Every Wednesday, she and Prince Philip travel by a special Rolls-Royce bus run by London Transport just for them to Pall Mall Post Office where they collect their pensions which, combined, amount to some sixteen million sovereigns - a small price for the nation to pay in return for the hard work they do.

Her Majesty then visits the same back-street hairdresser she has been going to since 1903 for her weekly shampoo, set and blue rinse while Philip puts a bet on at the bookies and then has haddock and a small portion of mushy peas for his lunch since he finds the crispy bits in chips uncomfortable to chew with his false teeth. This done, the bus conveys them to Morrison's supermarket where they purchase tinned food for their corgis and, if the gas bill doesn't have to be paid that week, treat themselves to a nice cup of tea and a bun. Guinea This gold coin was meant to be worth one pound Sterling, but being real gold its actual value fluctuated all over the place thanks to the venal machinations of international currency speculators - not like today at all, eh? Eventually its value was fixed at 21/- and it was largely replaced by the Sovereign. However prices in guineas were still used by furniture salesmen, car dealers and bookmakers, all of whom wanted to mislead their customers as much as possible.

Decimalisation in 1971 finally banned pricing things in guineas, since which time the sharks have had to find other ways of confusing and fleecing the unwary. Pronunciation Many a German spy was captured and imprisoned during World War 2 when they nonchalantly strolled into a village shop to purchase those items essential to a Nazi abroad such as lager , Volkswagen spares and the Daily Mail . They'd probably have got away with it too, had the British not cunningly decided to pronounce the names of certain coins of the realm in peculiar ways that Johnny Foreigner would have no hope of ever coming to grips with. Every shopkeeper in the country knew that, should any shifty-looking types enter their premises and pronounce the names of any of the coins phonetically, they should immediately phone the Home Guard.

To pronounce the names properly and thus avoid looking like a foreigner, simply refer to this simple guide: Farthing - mag Halfpenny - hape-nee The penny was pronounced as the spelling suggests, but just to be on the safe side two pennies (2d) would be pronounced tuppence Threepence - thruppnee bit or throopnee bit, depending on region Sixpence - tanner Half Crown - arfer craan, affa crone or even arf dollar, depending on region Pound - quid Such a system would reveal even fluent English speakers, as nobody but a true Britisher could ever linguistically cope with, " two shillings and thruppunce," "tuppunce hap-nee" or "'alf a bob" without becoming hopelessly tongue-tied and revealing their true origins. Maundy Money Also known by pedants and pub bores by its full name The Queen's Maundy Money and donated by her to deserving poor folks in a religious ceremony dating back to 600AD which is traditionally carried out on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter .

Originally, the ceremony involved the Archbishop of Canterbury washing poor people's feet, to mark the washing of the Disciples' feet by Christ ; this was rapidly changed to the charitable donation of money when it was decided that royalty should carry out the tradition as no British person would ever wish to see the hands of their beloved monarch touch something so vile as a poor person. Special Maundy coinage is produced yearly by the Royal Mint in the form of silver coins with denominations of one penny, two pennies, three pennies and four pennies (known as a groat). The amount donated is decided not by the recipient's need but in accordance with the monarch's age - thus in 2006, when Queen Elizabeth turned 80, 80 pence was donated to 80 poor people in a ceremony held at Guildford Cathedral . That year, in a display of astonishing generosity from the aristocracy, the selected poor also received a commemorative £5 coin marking Her Majesty's birthday and a special 50p coin to mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross medal.

As the grateful recipients filed out of the cathedral amongst much pomp and splendour, one lucky elderly gent was heard to mutter, "£6.30. That's going to keep the heating bills paid this winter. Thanks, you tight ol' cow." See Also Coins of the UK About the Author. Introduction This is a series of pages dealing with the history of individual denominations used in England since the Norman Conquest or, in the case of the penny, a little earlier. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, and extensive research has been carried out to this end. However, I will not and cannot accept liability for the consequences of any decisions made by readers of this site. Please note that the copyright on these web pages remains with the author. Please do not post copies of pages found on this web site elsewhere on the web without specific authorisation from the author, as the frequent updates would render the copies obsolete very quickly. However, please feel free to post links to the site if you think it is appropriate. If you wish to download these web pages for personal use only, you are welcome to do so.

If you later want to update them, check with the version numbers in the main index on this page as given below (e.g. v12). The dates of the latest version are given in UK format (dd/mm/yy). Site Organisation This site is having recently been transferred from the old site at It was not intended to move the site, but restrictions imposed by Demon have forced me to move it elsewhere, as had already happened with the pictures pages on what is now a redundant site - The two sites are now merged back together again. There are three main sets of pages dealing with the coins of the United Kingdom. The History Pages which detail the history of the individual denominations used since before the Norman Conquest. The Main Index for these is on this page. There are links to the relevant Values and Pictures pages on each of the History Pages. With hammered gold coins (such as the Angel) the changes of value over time do create a problem; they are referred to under each value that they had, with links taking you from one value to the next. The Decimal Coins pages detail the history of the change to decimal coinage in 1971, and the coins issued since that time, and are now integrated into the main History Pages section.

The Values Pages, which detail the values of individual coins in a range of condition grades since the introduction of Milled coins during the Commonwealth. There is a Values Index Page on which will help you find the value of your coins. There are links to the relevant History and Pictures pages on each of the Values pages. The Pictures Pages. These were hosted on my alternative site at although that site has been mothballed, and has been merged back onto this site . Pictures are confined to the pages in the picture section as the rest of the site is designed to be read easily and rapidly by readers using any type of software and communication link, without expecting that the viewer has the very latest software. However, links to many images can be found on the History pages. There are links to the relevant History and Values pages on each of the Pictures pages. Enquiries Before mailing the author to ask about the value of your coins, first try to judge their condition using the Grading Information below, and then look up your coins on the Values of UK Coins pages. This may answer your question without adding to the several messages per day that the author receives on the subject.

If you wish to ask for advice, please try to look through this site first, but if you cannot find the information you want feel free to contact the author via the Advice page . Ensure that your Reply-To address is correct, as I delete all messages immediately after replying. I do answer all non-spam e-mails received, so if you do not get a reply within a couple of weeks, try again. If the information is readily available on the site, I will refer you to the appropriate page in the hope that this will assist you to find further similar information yourself. If there is a problem with any aspect of the site design, such as faulty links, please contact the author via the Advice page . Die Numbers Some Victorian silver and gold coins have die numbers. I have compiled a list of those known to exist which is almost certainly not complete. If you have such a coin check the die number on this page and let me know if you have one that is not recorded. If outside the known range of numbers please send me a clear image of both sides of the coin for confirmation. Proof Sets v20 04/03/15 A list of what changes were made in the past year or so can be found here .

UK Coin Values There is a similar series of pages dealing with just the Values of UK Coins , including access to a CSV File suitable for loading into your favourite database or spreadsheet. This file has an exhaustive list of all years and denominations and includes major varieties and many proof coins. For more extensive value information I suggest you purchase The Coin Yearbook from Token Publishing Ltd, PO Box 14, Honiton, Devon EX14 9YP, UK , to whom I am indebted for their permission to use the values information published in their magazine Coin News and their Coin Yearbook. These values pages can also be accessed directly from the descriptive pages in the list above. Coins in gold and silver have an intrinsic metal value which can exceed any numismatic value. A new page on bullion values is now available. Index by Metal and Size As many UK coins do not have a denomination on them, especially prior to the 20th century, the following gives an index by diameter and weight for Milled coins only. Bear in mind that coins from the 18th Century and earlier show significant variations both in diameter and weight from issue to issue. Hammered coins show far too much variation for them to be indexed in this way.

Milled coins are those produced on a machine press, and have a regular size. This process became standard around the time of Charles II in the middle of the 17th century. Prior to that coins were made by hand hammering, and as there was no collar the size of the coin was irregular. The term milled is also applied to the lines on the edge of the machine-made coins which were introduced to prevent the practice of clipping silver or gold from round the edge. These lines can be either perpendicular, angled or chevroned, or even in the form of a recessed line around the edge. Higher denominations sometimes have lettered edges. The term 'Early' as used in the list below generally means pre-1816. Such coins show variations around the figure given. Copper, Bronze or Copper-plated Steel Illustrations In order that the site can be loaded speedily by all users of the web, illustrations are not used in the main pages. Previously, because of bandwidth limitations on the host server that I used to use, pictures were accessed from a picture store on the separate website However, this has now been relocated back onto this site in the folder .

Use of remains active although you will simply be redirected back to the corresponding page on this site. Links to individual pictures can be found at relevant points in the main description pages, and are downloaded from the picture store, while the above reference will give an index to extensive displays of images based either on monarch or denomination. Future Developments Now that I have scanners and digital cameras the number of illustrations on the picture pages has been dramatically increased. I particularly welcome donations of images to fill gaps in the collection. It is intended to write pages detailing the numismatic history of the reign of each monarch, but this is taking some time. Little has been done on that mission in this century! Grading A range of grades are used to describe the condition of coins. Valuation of a coin is impossible without a sound knowledge of the grading of coins. For this there is no real substitute for experience. However, the following is a guide to the main UK grading scheme used for UK and other coins. Please note that this differs in many respects from US grading systems. Poor: Inscriptions worn off, date illegible, only outline of design visible. Such coins are generally of no value to a collector.

Very Good (VG): Considerable wear over the whole coin, and high spots worn through. Coins in this or the previous grades are really only collectable if extremely rare. This picture is of the reverse of a 1905 penny which is Good to Very Good (i.e. awful!) Fine (F): Worn over whole area, but only the highest spots are worn completely through. (US Grade about VF) Very Fine (VF): Detail clear, but obvious evidence of limited circulation. High spots worn but detail remains. Traces of mint lustre may linger amongst the letters of the inscription. (US Grade about XF) Extremely Fine (EF): Slight wear on high spots on close inspection, and all other detail clear and sharp. Much mint lustre may remain. (US Grade about AU) Uncirculated (Unc): No wear, although it is possible for the design not to be fully struck up in the minting process. There may be bag abrasions. Older coins may be tarnished or toned. Brilliant Uncirculated (BU): Usually implies full mint lustre, in other words no toning or tarnish.

FDC: (Fleur de Coin) Perfect mint state, with no abrasions or marks, and full lustre. Usually applied to proof coins only, as coins intended for circulation are in contact with others during production. Proof: Not a condition, but the coin has been struck using specially prepared dies and polished blanks, and the minting process has been carried out usually twice with extra pressure to ensure the die is filled. Normally the fields are highly polished, with the design matte, however matte proofs where the whole coin is matte are known (for example all the 1902 GB proofs), and sometimes even the design is polished. A characteristic of proof coins is that they have very sharp edges because of the high pressures used to ensure that the metal flows into all details of the design. Many coins fall in between grades, and so terms such as 'nearly VF', 'good VF', 'gem BU' are encountered. The numerical system popular in the USA is almost unused in the UK, and US readers should bear in mind that their grading system is more generous than that of the UK.

The Two Pound Coin with a Necklace Legend There have been rumours circulating in the UK that the two pound coin where the queen is wearing a necklace is worth a lot (the highest figure quoted to me is £75). There have even been rumours that they are being recalled and that banks and post offices will give a premium for them. This is an urban legend. 1997 two pound coins are plentiful, circulate readily, and are NOT scarce. Sorry to disappoint you on this. Banks and post offices will only give you two pounds for them. No less than 13,734,625 have been issued for circulation according to the Royal Mint. Hardly a rare coin. However, they are not too often seen as not only are much larger numbers of later coins available, but because of the rumours they have been picked out of circulation. There was a problem in the production of the new bimetallic two pound coins which meant that the release date was delayed from 1997 to 1998. In the meantime the portrait was changed for the newer coins minted in 1998.

They issued the 1997 coins (with the 'necklace') anyway, in large quantities. They are not worth more than two pounds, nor will they be unless in uncirculated condition in a lot of years time (as will the 1998, 1999, etc coins) On the other hand the Guernsey version of the coin dated 1997 is scarce as it was only issued in the Guernsey uncirculated coin sets (as you may know both Jersey and Guernsey issue their own coins). The Two Penny Coin with NEW PENCE Legend A lot of people have misunderstood a recent TV program. There is a rare two penny coin, but it is only the one dated 1983 with NEW PENCE on the reverse. From 1971 to 1981 all UK circulating coins used the words NEW PENCE to distinguish them from the old pre-decimal pennies. In 1982 it was felt that this had gone on long enough, and the legends were changed, replacing the word NEW with the value of the coin, such as TWO or FIFTY, etc.

In 1983 so many 2p coins were in circulation that there was little demand for more. As a result, two pence coins bearing that date were only issued in sets issued by the Royal Mint for collectors. In error, about 20 or so included two pence coins with the old NEW PENCE instead of TWO PENCE on the reverse. There may be sets still sitting around unchecked (sadly my own has the more common TWO PENCE reverse). The chances of sets being broken up and put into circulation are fairly small, so the chances of finding a 1983 twopence in circulation are tiny anyway - the chances of finding the error reverse make winning the lottery look easy. 'To Hanover' Tokens Copper or brass tokens bearing the legend 'To Hanover' often turn up. These are not UK coins, despite the portrait of Queen Victoria usually found on them. When William IV died, Victoria became Queen, and inherited many of King William's titles. However, the Electorship of Hanover could only be inherited by a male heir, and this went to the Duke of Cumberland, a rather unpopular figure, who promptly departed to Hanover.

The tokens were used for gaming, it is thought, and say 'Good Riddance', so to speak. With modern coins there are two types of the orientation of the reverse: 'Coin' orientation, where the reverse is upside down when you turn the coin sideways. 'Medal' orientation, where the reverse is upright when you turn the coin sideways. Modern US 'silver' coins use the 'coin' orientation, as do most UK copper coins prior to 1825 (1826 for farthings) and silver or gold up until 1887. Modern UK coins after the above dates use 'medal' orientation, as do many earlier proofs. Prior to 'D-Day' on 15th February 1971 the English coinage system was based on the following relationships: 2 Farthings = 1 Halfpenny 2 Halfpence = 1 Penny (1d) 6 Pence = Sixpence (often referred to as a tanner) (6d) 12 Pence = 1 Shilling (often referred to as bob, e.g.

six bob) (1/-) 2 shillings = 1 Florin (or two bob bit) (2/-) 2 Shillings and 6 Pence = 1 Half Crown (rarely referred to as half a dollar) (2/6) 5 shillings = 1 Crown (5/-) 20 Shillings = 1 Pound (often referred to as a quid) (£1) Other terms much more rarely used include 4 Pence = 1 Groat (4d) 13 Shillings and 4 Pence (160 pence) = 1 Mark (13/4) 21 Shillings = 1 Guinea (£1/1/-) Note the way sums of money were written: 6/8 means 6 shillings and eightpence, while £2/19/11 was two pounds nineteen shillings and eleven pence. The use of d for penny may seem odd until you realise it is short for the Latin denarius.

The term guinea was (and is) used for 21 shillings (£1.05), especially in horse racing and by auction houses, although no coin of that value has been issued since 1813. The Mark was traditionally used as a standard fine by the University of Cambridge during my own time there in the early 1960's. In advance of D-day the halfpenny and half-crown were withdrawn, and 5 new pence and 10 new pence coins were issued from 1968 to circulate alongside the existing shilling and florin coins. A 50p coin appeared in 1969 to replace the old 10 shilling banknote. The farthing had gone long before, in 1961. After D-day the penny and threepence coins rapidly disappeared from use. The sixpence continued in use as 2½ pence for about nine years. The new halfpenny went not long afterwards. However, the old shillings and florins continued alongside the 5p and 10p coins until a reduction in size in the early 1990's resulted in their disappearance from circulation.

The 50p coin was also reduced in size in 1997. Three new coins have been introduced since decimalisation - the 20p appeared in 1982 followed by the pound coin in 1983 and the two pound coin in 1998 (although 1997 versions are frequently found in change). Commemorative two pound coins were issued irregularly from 1986, but these early coins differ from the circulating version first issued in 1998 in that the latter is much thinner and is also bimetallic. Full information on the switch to Decimal Coinage, and recent changes to the coins used in the UK, can be found on the Decimal Coins page. The information has been culled from a very wide variety of sources, and I acknowledge my indebtedness to them, especially the following: 'An Advanced Guide to Coin Collecting' by Howard Linecar 'Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins' 'English Coins' by GC Brooke 'English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum' by C.W.Peck. 'The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain' by Michael J.

Freeman 'A History of Modern English Coinage' by James Mackay 'The Seaby Coin Encyclopaedia' by Ewald Junge 'Seaby's (now Spink's) Standard Catalogue of British Coins' 'Teach Yourself Numismatics' by CC Chamberlain There are many individuals who have been kind enough to help, and while some are mentioned individually in the text, I am indebted to all those who have written to me about points in this site. I am particularly indebted to Spink and Jean Elsen & Ses Fils for permission to use images from their auction catalogues, as well as many other individuals who are acknowledged by name or have given images anonymously. I am most grateful to The Ten O'Clock Show Limited for their past sponsorship of my coin-related websites. Sadly, it seems the business might have closed. Other Coin Related Sites A list can be found on my Links Page . An essay on the use of various metals in coinage is to be found on my 'Metals Used in Coins and Medals' page.

Tony Clayton's Home Page Help and Advice I would be grateful if you could search the site carefully before mailing me - the answers to the great majority of the questions that I am asked can be found on this site, and I am unlikely to reply quickly to such questions. In particular, I do NOT provide a valuation service. If you have done this and still wish to ask for advice, feel free to mail me via my Advice page . Coins of the UK

Question: What was the old English silver coin worth four pre-decimal pennies?
Answer: Groat