The halfcrown (or half crown) was a denomination of the pre-decimal Pound Sterling coinage worth one-eighth of a pound, or two and a half shillings (a full crown being defined as five shillings), or 30 pence. In sums, it was abbreviated "2/6" (pronounced "two and six" - two shillings and six pence, a full shilling being twelve pence). The half crown was first issued in 1549 in the reign of King Edward VI.
This type of halfcrown coins was struck during the reign of Queen Victoria, and is only the second design in her lifetime. Its reverse was designed by Leonard Charles Wyon, and the obverse featured the portrait of the Queen by Joseph Edgar Boehm known as her "Jubilee Head" because it was made for the occasion of her Golden Jubilee (50 years on the throne).
The obverse did not prove very popular, and the denomination was issued in this form for a short time only; it was replaced by a new type (both sides of which were different) after 1892.
The composition is Sterling Silver (0.925 silver) and the coins have 0.4205 oz ASW (ounces of Absolute Silver Weight). The half crown was demonetised (ahead of other pre-decimal coins) on 1 January 1970, the year before the United Kingdom adopted decimal currency. | 
