Hi Glens13 -- From 1947 to 1960 South Africa minted large, 38 mm diameter, 5 shilling crowns in 50 percent and 80 percent (0.500 and 0.800 pure) silver. The reigning British monarch, in this case George or Elizabeth, appear on the front of the coin, and a nice pattern appears on the back. In 1952, the back shows an old sailing vessel. Other years have antelope, shields, and buildings.

Since these are modern coins, they do not command high collector premiums over their basic silver value. The coin in the picture is especially nice, so it might fetch $5 US dollars over the base silver value, but probably not more. One date, the 1959 coin with Queen Elizabeth and an antelope, carries higher collector premiums than most. It catalogs for $200 in fully uncirculated condition.

Here are the silver content stats:

1947 to 1950: 0.727 troy ounces silver
1951 to 1960: 0.455 troy ounces silver

Use a web site such as kitco.com to look up the price of silver, them multiply it by either 0.727 or 0.455 to obtain the base value.

An interested CoinQuest reader reports that the sailing ship on the 1952 5 shillings is none other than the Drommedaris, displayed in commemoration of 400 years since Jan van Riebeeeck and the first Dutch settlers arrived in South Africa. On 24 December 1651 Jan van Riebeeck set off, accompanied by his wife and son, from Texel in the Netherlands for the Cape of Good Hope, having been appointed on a five-year contract as an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOIC). His task was to set up a refreshment station which could be used by VOC ships on their way to the spice-rich Far East.