Jersey 1954 liberation 1/12th shilling

Now this is one coin that is just wrong. Liberation was 1945 coin was introduced in 1954 (9 yrs) yet there is no date to say it is 1954 only 1945 before the Queen was crowned. So my question is was it actually an error in the design ?

Hi Tony, your post raises several interesting issues. I think it is generally understood that the coin you refer to, the Jersey KM#20 Queen Elizabeth 1/12 shilling, was not struck in 1945 (obviously) and the date is commemorating the liberation of the island by the Allies at the end of WWII. This is backed up by the fact the strike is (correctly) identified in the Numista catalogue as ND (no date) with the mintage date shown afterwards in brackets because it doesn't appear on the coin.

However, when I searched the interweb to look for info on these coins, I actually stumbled across the previous issue, namely the KM#19 George VI 1/12 shilling which has the same reverse. When I looked further, I found that these coins weren't struck in 1945 either but in fact were struck over 3 years - first in 1949 then again in 1950 and 1952. This is where the Numista catalogue (and possibly Krause as well) appear to be incorrect.

After the king died in 1952 and his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, became queen it was decided the continue using the same reverse for the first coins minted under the reign of the new monarch. The Coinage Act of 1953 actually authorized this new series but the coins were not struck until 1954. It's also interesting to note that this same Act also authorized the Queen Elizabeth 1/24 shilling although none were ever issued.

Source: http://jerseycoins.com

Quote: radrick007Hi Tony, your post raises several interesting issues. I think it is generally understood that the coin you refer to, the Jersey KM#20 Queen Elizabeth 1/12 shilling, was not struck in 1945 (obviously) and the date is commemorating the liberation of the island by the Allies at the end of WWII. This is backed up by the fact the strike is (correctly) identified in the Numista catalogue as ND (no date) with the mintage date shown afterwards in brackets because it doesn't appear on the coin.

However, when I searched the interweb to look for info on these coins, I actually stumbled across the previous issue, namely the KM#19 George VI 1/12 shilling which has the same reverse. When I looked further, I found that these coins weren't struck in 1945 either but in fact were struck over 3 years - first in 1949 then again in 1950 and 1952. This is where the Numista catalogue (and possibly Krause as well) appear to be incorrect.

After the king died in 1952 and his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, became queen it was decided the continue using the same reverse for the first coins minted under the reign of the new monarch. The Coinage Act of 1953 actually authorized this new series but the coins were not struck until 1954. It's also interesting to note that this same Act also authorized the Queen Elizabeth 1/24 shilling although none were ever issued.

Source: http://jerseycoins.com

Thank you very much for that radrick, also the link will be very useful for future reference. I noticed the 1977 50p mule that I never new anything about, I have had quite a few of these which I have swopped without ever noticing if they were a mule or not, but now I'm aware I will be a lot more observant in future.