Shilling 1947 English, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The obverse of the coin shows the bare (uncrowned) head of King George VI facing left.

Below the neck truncation in small letters, the artist's initials HP (for [Thomas] Humphrey Paget).

Around, the monarch's legend: GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX. Translated from Latin: George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains.

The centre of the reverse shows St Edward's Crown surmounted by the crowned Lion of England. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, the crown has been traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century (with a two-century gap between 1689 and 1911). The lion is walking to left, its head turned to face the viewer. Above the lion's tail in small letters, the artist's initials KG (for [George] Kruger Gray).

Divided by the crown, the date of issue 1947.

Within a beaded border, around above is the continuation of the monarch's legend: · FID · DEF IND · IMP · (abbreviated from FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIAE IMPERATOR - Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India).

Around below, the denomination and the date of issue: · ONE SHILLING ·. Two Tudor roses before and after the denomination, which were not present in the pre-1937 design, mark the coin as the "English Shilling" of the year; a Scottish Shilling was also issued in 1947, with a different reverse.

Between 1937 and 1970, British shilling coins were issued with English and Scottish design each year. This is the English design.

The end of World War II saw the price of silver, which had been 24 pence an ounce in 1939, risen to 55.5 pence (the London controlled price) apparently with none available. The free suppliers' price at the time was 70 pence and even there supplies were very limited. In addition, the UK government was under obligation to repay in kind 88,000,000 ounces to the USA obtained during the War. It was therefore decided to abandon silver for circulating coinage and substitute a cupro-nickel alloy. The first coins made with the new alloy were struck in 1947.

References to original information:
77th Annual Report of the Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, 1946 p.1