The Crowns of George VI
The crown (5 shillings) was issued to commemorate the ascension of King George VI in 1937 and was popular as a memento, so many were kept and did not remain in circulation. There was a further mintage in 1938 which was not well received, so the crown was never struck again. The crown was a big and bulky coin and in the United Kingdom had not been struck for circulation since 1900. More information about Australian silver crowns can be found in the book Australian Predecimal Silver Coinage 1909-1964.
Characteristics
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) |
| Diameter | 38.5mm |
| Weight | 28.27g |
Obverses
| Obverse | Designer | Design |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Humphrey Paget | A crown |
Reverses
| Reverse | Designer | Design |
|---|---|---|
| A | George Kruger Gray | Uncrowned portrait of King George VI |
Die pairings for Australian crowns
| Year | Obverse | Reverse | Mint | Mintmark | Mintage | Rarity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 1 | A | Melbourne Mint | 1,008,000 | Common | Proofs were struck | |
| 1938 | 1 | A | Melbourne Mint | 101,600 | Scarce |
Grading Notes
Many crowns did not see much circulation so coins in reasonable condition should be easy to obtain, though due to their weight and size, their large fields are prone to bag marks, especially "tooth-marks" from other the rims of other crowns during their production and bagging.
Edward VIII
Besides the two official crowns, a number of unofficial/fantasy crowns (sometimes referred to as patterns) have been struck over the years. Typically they are dated 1937 and have a portrait of King Edward VIII on the reverse but many designs exist. These unofficial/fantasy crowns have been struck in the names of various other commonwealth nations as well.
No Edward VIII crowns were struck for any nation, except for a small number of patterns for the United Kingdom's 1937 coinage.
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