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1 Shilling - George VI 1st type
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1937-1946 |
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| Engraver(s) | Obverse: Thomas Humphrey Paget Reverse: George Kruger Gray |
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| Obverse description | Uncrowned, bare-headed left-facing effigy of King George VI, modelled by Thomas Humphrey Paget, whose initials 'HP' appear below the truncation. The king is depicted in a restrained, naturalistic style with fine detail to the hair and facial features. The circular legend reads 'GEORGE VI KING EMPEROR' distributed around the upper and lower periphery, separated by the coin's beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | NEW ZEALAND KG ONE SHILLING ∙ 1942 |
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| Additional information |
The shift to .500 fine silver in 1920 had already halved the metal content of British coinage, and by 1937 the shilling was effectively a token coin backed by government fiat rather than intrinsic worth. George VI's accession that year followed his brother's abdication — an event that compressed the entire coronation minting schedule and forced the Royal Mint to prepare two distinct shilling types simultaneously, one for England and one for Scotland, a distinction that had no precedent in the silver series.
Production continued through the worst years of the Blitz, with the Mint itself sustaining bomb damage in 1940.