1934 Wreath Crown

Specifications

Denomination: Crown (5 shillings)
Series: Wreath Crown ('Christmas Crown')
Designer: Bertram MacKennal (obverse); George Kruger Gray (reverse)
Years of issue: 1927–1936
Composition: 50% Silver, 50% Copper
Weight: 28.276 g
Diameter: 38.61 mm
KM: 836
Mintage: 932
Key mintages: 932 (NGC). Series figures are for non-proof coins; a small number of proofs were offered in each year (Britannia Coin Company).

Melt value: $29.47silver $64.40/ozt, copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

AI-generated illustration — not a photograph of a genuine coin.

932 struck — the lowest mintage of the entire 1927–1936 wreath crown series, and the key date of the 'Christmas crowns' (NGC; Britannia Coin Company).

History

Wreath crowns were struck by the Royal Mint from 1927 to 1936 in very limited numbers; issues after 1927 were struck late in the year and distributed by the Bank of England as Christmas presents to favoured clients — hence ‘Christmas crowns’ (Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).
They were legal tender and a collector piece from the start, though the condition of some survivors shows they did circulate (Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).
Obverse: the bare-head portrait of George V facing left by Bertram MacKennal (NGC; Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).
Reverse: the Imperial crown at the centre within an emblematic wreath of roses, shamrocks and thistles, date above, ‘CROWN’ below, ‘FID · · DEF · · IND · · IMP’ around — the design of George Kruger Gray (Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).
Just 932 were struck in 1934, ‘by far the lowest mintage issue of the series’ — the series key (Britannia Coin Company; NGC, accessed 2026-09-16).

Key dates and varieties

There is no 1935 wreath crown: the 1935-dated crown is the Silver Jubilee ‘rocking horse’ St George design by Percy Metcalfe (KM 842), struck to 715,000 — a different type entirely (NGC; Rotographic, accessed 2026-09-16).
Non-proof series mintages: 1927 proof 15,030; 1928 9,034; 1929 4,994; 1930 4,847; 1931 4,056; 1932 2,395; 1933 7,132; 1934 932; 1936 2,473 — 1934 is the lowest by far (Britannia Coin Company; NGC, accessed 2026-09-16).
A small number of proofs were offered in each year in addition to the currency strikes (Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).

Specifications

composition
designers
diameter
edge
mint
weight

Collector notes

Key genuine marker: the tiny ‘K.G.’ initials sit to the right of the lowest rose dividing the denomination on the reverse — the engraver’s signature of Kruger Gray (CoinArchives / Sovereign Rarities; Britannia Coin Company, accessed 2026-09-16).
Physical check: 28.28 g at .500 silver and 38.61 mm — underweight or non-silver copies fail the specification test (NGC, accessed 2026-09-16).
Value factors: auction average ~$3,600 for regular strikes and ~$11,000 for proofs, with a record $20,500 for a proof at Spink (Jan 2022); UK guide range Fine £800 to UNC £5,500 (Coinstrail; Coinhunter / Token Publishing Coin Yearbook 2022, accessed 2026-09-16).
Only 932 exist and they were never a circulation issue — certification (NGC/PCGS) is the norm for coins at this value level (Coinstrail records dozens of certified examples in its 1934 auction archive, accessed 2026-09-16).