By Rocco Clayfield, founder of GoldPaid (GOLDPAID LTD) · Published · updated
The two dates that decide the value
- Pre-1920: 92.5 % silver (sterling). The traditional British standard from the Middle Ages until the First World War.
- 1920–1946: 50 % silver alloy (with copper, nickel and manganese). The Coinage Act 1920 halved the silver content after the silver price rose sharply at the end of the First World War.
- 1947 onward: cupro-nickel. Zero silver. The Coinage Act 1946 ended silver coinage for general circulation entirely.
| Coin | Dated 1919 or earlier (92.5%) | Dated 1920 to 1946 (50%) |
|---|---|---|
| Sixpence (2.83 g) | 2.62 g | 1.41 g |
| Shilling (5.66 g) | 5.24 g | 2.83 g |
| Florin (11.31 g) | 10.46 g | 5.66 g |
| Halfcrown (14.14 g) | 13.08 g | 7.07 g |
| Crown (28.28 g) | 26.16 g | 14.14 g |
This is the single most useful thing to know if you are looking at a tin of old change. A 1919 shilling and a 1920 shilling look almost identical to the eye. The 1919 is nearly double the silver. The fine-silver weight of each denomination, with the arithmetic set out, is on selling pre-1947 British silver coins.
Not sure how any of this applies to your own items? Send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you, call 07944 014111 (8am to 9pm, 7 days a week). We can arrange postage after we have spoken. Nothing is posted until you decide, your parcel is tracked and signed for, the written offer follows the XRF assay, the return is free if you decline, and we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance.
The denominations that carry silver
| Denomination | Face value (old money) | Standard weight | Diameter | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Threepence (silver) | 3d | 1.41 g | 16.3 mm | Small round. NOT the 12-sided brass threepence (1937 onward) |
| Sixpence | 6d | 2.83 g | 19.4 mm | Silver in every year up to 1946 |
| Shilling | 1s | 5.66 g | 23.6 mm | English and Scottish reverses from 1937 |
| Florin | 2s | 11.31 g | 28.5 mm | Two shillings |
| Halfcrown | 2s 6d | 14.14 g | 32.3 mm | The workhorse silver coin of the era |
| Crown | 5s | 28.28 g | 38.6 mm | Only struck for specific occasions, much scarcer |
What a bag of coins actually contains
Bag-lot scrap silver is priced on fine-silver content. The rough conversions below are what buyers work from, sort your coins by era before weighing, or the mixed figure will be an average of the two.
| Bag content | Approx. fine silver per 100 g of coin | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1920 mixed silver (any denomination) | ≈ 92.5 g | × 0.925 |
| 1920–1946 mixed silver (any denomination) | ≈ 50 g | × 0.500 |
| Mixed pre-1946 with unknown split | ≈ 65–75 g (assumes both eras) | Sort first |
So a jam jar with 500 g of pre-1920 sixpences and shillings holds roughly 462 g of fine silver. The same jar filled with 1920–1946 coins holds roughly 250 g. Two very different valuations from a jar that weighs the same on your kitchen scales, which is why sorting by date before you send anything makes a material difference to the offer.
The quick sort at your kitchen table
- Empty the tin onto a tray in good light. Ignore anything obviously modern (post-1947 shillings, 5p, 10p, all cupro-nickel).
- Separate the small round threepences from the 12-sided brass ones. Round = silver; 12-sided = not silver.
- Sort the silver into two piles by date: 1919 and earlier vs 1920–1946.
- Weigh each pile on kitchen scales to the nearest gram. Note the gross weight of each pile separately.
- Take clear photographs of any coin that looks unusually sharp, or is a crown (5s), before it joins a bag. See "When a coin deserves a second look" below.
When a coin deserves a second look
A worn 1922 florin is priced on silver. A sharp 1935 Jubilee crown in original condition is a numismatic object, the Rocking Horse crown design is one of the most collected 20th-century British coins and can sit well above its silver value. The same principle applies to any of the following:
- Crowns (5-shilling pieces). Only struck for specific years and occasions. Even circulated examples usually beat their silver value.
- Sharp uncirculated coins. Full detail on the portrait, no wear on the high points, mirror or lustre in the fields. If it looks brand new, it probably is worth grading.
- Coins in original Royal Mint packaging. Proof sets, specimen coinage, Maundy sets, never break them up.
- Any early Victorian or Georgian silver (pre-1837). Older and often scarcer.
- Anything unusually thick, thin, or with a die error. Off-metal strikes and errors carry a premium.
For anything in those categories, a British Numismatic Trade Association (BNTA) dealer or a specialist coin auction house (Baldwin’s, Spink, Noonan’s) is the right first stop. A metal-price scrap buyer is the wrong first stop for a coin that may carry a numismatic premium.
What the volunteer’s guide covers instead
If you are sorting silver on behalf of a charity shop or warehouse rather than for yourself, the working aid for volunteers is the pre-1947 silver coins charity shop guide. It covers triage speed, mixed-pile handling and audit-trail practice for a donation pipeline, different priorities from the private-seller decisions in this post.
Sending pre-1947 silver to GoldPaid
GoldPaid buys pre-1947 British silver coins. Every parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where the coins are weighed and XRF-tested, and you get a written itemised offer. We aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance. Decline and everything is returned tracked and free.
If you think a coin deserves a numismatist rather than a scrap buyer, a 1935 crown for example, show it to one before you post anything. For how testing and weighing work, see how we value gold (the same method applies to silver).