The British crown came about in 1707. The British Crown replaced the English Crown which was first introduced in 1526 under the monetary reform of 1526 under King Henry VIII. Gold investment products are VAT free. Silver investment products are inclusive of VAT at the current rate unless otherwise stated. The metal used was 92.5% silver and the rest copper so as to make the coin harder. This hardness, together with a milled edge, made 'clipping' (which was cutting slices off the edge to steal some free silver) more difficult. Quintuple Sovereigns - Five Pound Gold Coins". taxfreegold.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017 . Retrieved 23 June 2017.

New Zealand's original fifty-cent pieces, and Australia's previously round but now dodecagonal fifty-cent piece, although valued at five shillings in predecimal accounting, are all smaller than the standard silver crown pieces issued by those countries (and the UK). They were in fact similarly sized to the predecimal half crown (worth two shillings and sixpence). The 1951 Festival of Britain crown is definitely an intriguing coin given that it was one of only two crowns minted during the reign of King George VI. a b "The Royal Mint: Five Pound Coin Designs and Specifications". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015 . Retrieved 10 July 2015.

Obverse

Values in the table above are expressed in GBP. They are based on evaluations by Numista users and sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only; they are not intended to be relied upon for buying, selling or exchanging. Numista does not buy or sell coins or banknotes. The Royal Mint issued British Pound coins in 16 different denominations, including this British Five Shillings coin Festival of Britain Crown (1951). They are part of the predecimal and withdrawn Pound Sterling coins series. The Royal Mint started issuing these 0.25 British Pound coins in 1951. They were withdrawn from circulation in 1951. Gothic" crown of Queen Victoria (1847). The coin had a mintage of just 8,000 and was produced to celebrate the Gothic revival By 1551, silver was being used to produce crowns, although gold was sometimes still used. The silver crown was quite large, being about 38mm and weighing about one ounce. Around that time many Europeans countries had similar sized silver coins which made them good for international trade as they were essentially interchangeable. After the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 a new coin, the British Crown, replaced the English Crown and Scottish Dollar. The value was set at 5 shillings and the size was 38mm in diameter and weighed about 1oz as before.

The 1951 Festival of Britain crown was not intended for circulation and it was instead released as a collectable item. The idea behind it was quite simple. Following World War Two, Britain was still suffering from the years of austerity before, and the Festival of Britain was a great way to boost the morale of the people.

Sell or auction your old coins

Kindleberger, Charles P. (2005). A Financial History of Western Europe. Taylor & Francis. p.60. ISBN 9780415378673. After this, it started to become more of a commemorative coin rather than one used in daily life. Popular Crown Coins Of The 20th Century This coin was not included in demonetization legislation when decimalization was introduced in 1971. It has been confirmed by the Royal Mint that the coin remains legal tender, having been remonetized with a value of 25 pence. The legal tender value of the crown remained as five shillings from 1544 to 1965. However, for most of this period there was no denominational designation or "face value" mark of value displayed on the coin. From 1927 to 1939, the word "CROWN" appears, and from 1951 to 1960 this was changed to "FIVE SHILLINGS". Coins minted since 1818 remain legal tender with a face value of 25 pence. Estimated Values for different versions of the 1951 Festival of Britain Crown So, How Rare Are The Coins?

So, what was the crown? Well, most people would agree that this is the most curious of all of the pre-decimal coins. It had a face value of 60 pence in ‘old’ money or one-quarter of a pound. In the 20th century, most crown coins were commemorative, and this era saw the introduction of some of the most popular crown coins that are sought after to this day. 1935 Jubilee Crown As you can tell, the frosted proof and matte versions are incredibly rare and worth thousands of pounds, however, the chances of coming across one of them are slim to none. Spink sets new world record for an English silver coin, 27 March 2014". Spink Auctioneers. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014 . Retrieved 27 March 2014.

For silver crowns, the grade of silver adhered to the long-standing standard (established in the 12th century by Henry II)– the Sterling Silver standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way towards discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge seen on coins today.