Pre-Decimal British Coins: Half Crowns, Florins, Shillings, Sixpences and Pennies

Before decimal day, 15 February 1971, a pound was 20 shillings and a shilling was 12 pence, so a pound was 240 pence. A half crown was two shillings and sixpence, a florin two shillings, and a crown five shillings. Smaller coins were the sixpence, threepence, penny, halfpenny and farthing.

Check the date. Half crowns, florins, shillings, sixpences and threepences dated 1919 or earlier are 92.5% sterling silver, and those dated 1920 to 1946 are 50% silver. From 1947 they were struck in cupronickel with no silver. Pennies, halfpennies and farthings were copper or bronze and never silver.

Half crowns dated 1946 or earlier contain silver, so they are worth more than face value: those to 1919 are sterling and those from 1920 to 1946 half silver. Half crowns from 1947 to 1967 are cupronickel and common. Low-mintage dates, such as 1905 and 1930, and coins in exceptional condition are sought by collectors.

Half crowns were sterling silver from 1816 to 1919, 50% silver from 1920 to 1946, and cupronickel, an alloy of copper and nickel, from 1947. All three weigh the same, so weight cannot tell a silver half crown from a cupronickel one; the date can. Earlier half crowns go back to 1551.

The half crown stopped being legal tender on 1 January 1970, before decimal day, because it had no exact decimal equivalent. The last half crowns for general circulation were dated 1967, and 1970 dated half crowns were struck only for proof sets. Eight half crowns made a pound.

Florins dated 1946 or earlier contain silver and are worth more than face value. Two shilling coins from 1947 to 1967, including the 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1966 dates, are cupronickel and were made in very large numbers, so they are common. The florin carried on as the decimal 10 pence until 1993.

Shillings dated 1946 or earlier contain silver: the 1929 shilling, for example, is 50% silver. Shillings from 1947 onwards, including 1948 and 1949, are cupronickel and common. From 1937 to 1966 shillings came in English and Scottish designs. The shilling became the decimal five pence and was withdrawn in 1990.

A sixpence was half a shilling and became two and a half new pence in 1971. Sixpences dated 1946 or earlier contain silver; those from 1947, such as 1950, 1953 and 1963, are cupronickel and very common. Sixpences stayed legal tender until 1980. Brides keep the tradition of a silver sixpence in the shoe.

Yes. Silver threepences contain silver, sterling to 1919 and 50% from 1920, and they are small, so they were often saved and baked into Christmas puddings. Silver threepences for circulation were made until 1945, and almost all 1945 coins were melted, so that date is scarce. The twelve-sided brass threepence has no silver.

A 1943 silver threepence is 50% silver, so it is worth more than face value, and wartime silver threepences were among the last made for circulation. Condition decides the rest: a coin with full detail on the portrait is worth more than a worn one. The 1943 brass threepence is common. Send photos of both sides for a free valuation.

Twelve old pennies made a shilling, and a florin, worth two shillings, was 24 old pennies. A half crown was 30 pennies and a crown 60. Twenty shillings, or 240 pennies, made a pound, which is why decimal day in 1971 turned the shilling into 5 new pence and the florin into 10 new pence.

Florins dated 1946 or earlier are silver: sterling to 1919 and 50% silver from 1920. The first florin of 1849 is known as the Godless florin because its legend left out DEI GRATIA. Low-mintage dates and coins in exceptional condition are the ones collectors want; florins from 1947 are cupronickel.

George V coins of 1911 to 1919 are sterling silver and those of 1920 to 1936 half silver; George VI silver coins of 1937 to 1946 are half silver. Collectors look for the 1912, 1918 and 1919 pennies struck at Heaton or Kings Norton, marked H or KN beside the date, and for coins in exceptional condition.

From 1949 British coins no longer carried IND IMP, short for Emperor of India, because India had become independent in 1947. Coins dated 1937 to 1948 carry the old legend and those from 1949 do not, which is a quick way to date George VI coins. It does not change their value on its own.

Most are common. Bronze pennies from 1860 onwards, including 1967 and the decimal 1971 new penny, were made in huge numbers. The rarities are the 1933 penny, of which about seven are known, and certain dates and varieties in exceptional condition. The 1942 halfpenny is a common date.

Most farthings are worth little. Farthings, a quarter of a penny, were bronze from 1860; the wren design ran from 1937 until the last farthings in 1956, and they were withdrawn on 31 December 1960. Wartime dates such as 1942 and 1944 are common. Coins with full red mint colour are collected.

The 1951 Festival of Britain and 1953 Coronation five shilling coins, or crowns, are cupronickel with no silver, and nearly six million 1953 crowns were made, so both are common. They remain legal tender at 25 pence. Cased examples in original boxes are worth slightly more than loose ones.

Eight. A half crown was two shillings and sixpence, or 30 old pence, and a pound was 240 old pence, so eight half crowns made a pound. In decimal money a half crown is 12.5 new pence. It was not converted at decimal day because it had no exact decimal coin.

No. The half crown stopped being legal tender on 1 January 1970, and banks no longer exchange it. Half crowns dated 1946 or earlier contain silver and can be sold to a coin or silver dealer. Later cupronickel half crowns are kept as keepsakes or sold to collectors in fine condition.

Half crown is the name of the British coin worth two shillings and sixpence, half of a crown of five shillings. It was written 2/6 and called half a dollar in slang. The name came from the gold half crown of Henry VIII, first struck in 1526.

No. 1947 was the first year British silver denominations were struck in cupronickel instead of silver, so 1947 two shilling coins, half crowns, shillings and sixpences contain no silver. Coins dated 1946 and earlier are 50% silver. The change paid back silver borrowed from the United States during the war.

No. The shilling stopped being made after 1966 and, after decimal day in 1971, circulated as a 5 pence piece until the larger 5p was withdrawn at the end of 1990. Shillings dated 1946 or earlier contain silver and can be sold; later cupronickel shillings are worth little and kept as keepsakes.

Irish pennies of the period show a hen and chicks, from the farm animal designs by Percy Metcalfe introduced in 1928, with a harp and the word ÉIRE on the other side, used after the 1937 constitution. They are bronze and common. They are Irish, not British, coins.

Pre-1933 is an American collecting term for United States gold coins struck before 1933, when the government recalled gold coins from circulation and ended their striking. They are prized for their history as well as their gold. British sovereigns of the same years are valued by date, mint mark and condition.

The d stands for denarius, the Roman silver coin, and pounds, shillings and pence were written as £sd from the Latin librae, solidi and denarii. A price of two shillings and sixpence was written 2s 6d or 2/6. The new decimal penny was written p from 1971.

Pennies were copper until 1860 and bronze from 1860, an alloy of mostly copper with a little tin and zinc, so they are not pure copper. They contain no silver. The decimal penny was bronze until 1992 and copper-plated steel after, which is why newer pennies stick to a magnet.

Usually not. Pennies and halfpennies dated in the 1960s were struck in very large numbers, and 1967 pennies were made for several years after, so they are common and worth little. The decimal 1971 penny is common too. Coins with full red mint colour and no wear sell to collectors.

The best known George III penny is the 1797 cartwheel penny, a large copper coin struck by Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint with a broad raised rim; later George III pennies were dated 1806 and 1807. They are copper, not silver, and common examples are worn. Fine examples are collected.

Silver pre-decimal coins, dated 1946 or earlier, sell to coin and silver dealers; base-metal coins sell best as a collection. We buy silver coins, sovereigns and collections, pay the same day by bank transfer, and offer insured postage, free collection or an appointment in Mayfair or Braintree.