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2 1/2 Shillings - George VI 2 1/2S
| Issuer | South African Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1951-1952 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Uncrowned, bare-headed effigy of King George VI facing left, modelled by Thomas Humphrey Paget, with the royal legend encircling the bust within the field. The portrait presents a mature likeness of the king in a classical, unadorned style. The designer's initials HP appear truncated below the neck. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
South Africa's transition away from sterling silver happened in 1937, when the alloy dropped from .925 to .500 — a direct consequence of wartime silver economics and the broader Commonwealth pressure to conserve fine silver for strategic purposes. By 1951 and 1952, these final years of George VI's reign, the half-fine standard had been in place for over a decade and the coins were circulating hard in an economy that was rapidly industrializing around the Witwatersrand gold fields.
George VI died in February 1952, making that year's South African issues among the last struck in his name anywhere in the Commonwealth. The 1952 date is the scarcer of the two.