1923 UK Half Crown Silver.

Hi Dorado

It's seen very little circulation. The 50% silver coins of 1920-27 are usually very weakly struck and it's common for there to be relatively few visible hairlines on George V's head, while the 'I' of 'Honi' and 'P' of 'Pense' on the garter legend, and the centre of the shield on the reverse, are also weak points. The traces of black between the R and G of 'Georgivs' on the obverse and 'Mal' on the reverse perhaps indicate a dipping or cleaning at some stage. I'd say EF, allowing for the usual weak strike. These coins are seldom seen so nice, as collectors tended to hoard the pre-1920 92.5% silver ones, and the halfcrowns of the early 1920s remained in circulation for 40 years or so, getting very worn and often having patches of copper showing through as The Royal Mint hadn't perfected a way of making the 50% silver alloy mixture.

Rob - can you perhaps elaborate on the silver alloy of these coins? I was always under the assumption that the 50% content was consistent throughout the coin - as opposed to being plated, or silver clad like our US 40% Kennedy halves. But if copper shows through with wear, maybe that isn't the case?

Sorry - just noticed I had never responded to hcmusicguy's post above!

The alloy of 1920-46 UK silver coins was always 50% silver, but according to a number of catalogues I've read, the proportion of other metals changed three times in the 1920s until a suitable alloy was found:

1920-22: 50% silver, 40% copper, 10% nickel
1922-27: 50% silver, 50% copper
1927-46: 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel, 5% zinc