Token Great Britain 5 Shillings Dollar 1804

Severe coin shortages caused the Bank of England to create these hefty silver tokens worth 5 shillings (one crown). The tokens were struck between 1804 and 1811, although all are dated 1804. The tokens were overstruck on Spanish American 8 Reales coins, and often traces of the original coin show through. These tokens were withdrawn by 1818, when the shortage was over.

As to value, first consider the nice specimen in our picture. It comes from Noble Numismatics in Australia, where it sold for 420 Australian dollars (about $325 US dollars) during a 2015 auction. CoinQuest thanks Noble for use of their coin image. It is a nice specimen.

Averaging results from other auctions of the same coin, CoinQuest estimates catalog values as follows:

worn: $100 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $200
well preserved: $400
fully uncirculated: $800

We have seen dazzling examples of this piece sell as high as $2000. Hope you have one of those! To reach the values shown on this page, tokens must be free of all problems (e.g., scratches, stains, cleanings, nicks, gouges, and the like) and have decent eye appeal. If you are not familiar with catalog values, please read our Important Terminology page.
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