After decimalisation in 1971 the Crown was officially valued at 25 pence. The size standardised at 38.61 mm and (silver crown) weight of 28.276g (1 oz).Īlthough not in current circulation, the Crown is still legal tender. From 1816-1919 the crown was 0.925 silver, this was reduced to 0.500 silver in 1920 and in 1947 the Crown became Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). The British economy, especially after the World Wars, took its toll on the crown too. The Crown was more-or-less relegated to a commemorative coin. The value was set at 5 shillings and the size was 38mm in diameter and weighed about 1oz as before.Īlthough the coin was always part of the British coin family, its large size made it unpopular for general circulation and the half-crown was favoured as the de-facto largest coin in circulation. This hardness, together with a milled edge, made 'clipping' (which was cutting slices off the edge to steal some free silver) more difficult.Īfter the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 a new coin, the British Crown, replaced the English Crown and Scottish Dollar. The metal used was 92.5% silver and the rest copper so as to make the coin harder. Around that time many Europeans countries had similar sized silver coins which made them good for international trade as they were essentially interchangeable. The silver crown was quite large, being about 38mm and weighing about one ounce. It was made of 22 carat gold ("crown gold") and has a value of five shillings (a quarter of a pound).īy 1551, silver was being used to produce crowns, although gold was sometimes still used. The English Crown first appeared in 1526. Over 1000 different coins are listed, including patterns (both official and unofficial).Decimal coins have been removed from this edition (they were previously only listed from 1971 to 1983) and there are no values in this book, it is solely concerned with the varieties of bronze coinage.Įach coin type in the main section and some of those in the new appendix are, as mentioned above, assigned an estimated rarity on a 41 point scale from 'believed unique' to many millions made.Category: CrownsThe Crown is a very old coin, with origins dating back to Henry VIII. Alterations to the dies, including changes to the date punches and major overstrikes resulting in letters/digits appearing to be struck on other letters or digits. Proofs in bronze and other metals are also listed. Where relevant there are tables of the possible combinations of reverses and obverses, often many combinations even for a single coin date. In this book Mr Freeman articulately describes the differences between the obverse and reverse types of the subject matter. This new book is also slightly larger than previous versions, in an attempt to improve the quality of the images and ease of identification. Where there is new information, the main text contains references to the new appendix and some of the rarity ratings have also been adjusted. 80% of the existing images in the main section have been replaced and there is a new appendix containing over 100 coins that were not included in the last edition (this is the first ever attempt to update the information for over 30 years). This is an enhanced reprint of the most current edition.
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