Very rare Edward VIII coin predicted to fetch £200k at auction

A ‘very rare’ coin depicting Edward VIII is predicted to fetch £200k at auction next month. 

The half-crown coin, which was minted but never issued as a result of Edward VIII’s controversial abdication, is reportedly one of only six still known to exist.

It is the only one ever to have sold at auction and is set to feature in Noonan’s sale of British Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals in London next month.

The coin is expected to sell for between £150,000 and £200,000.

Though coin patterns had been created for Edward VIII by the Royal Mint – all dated 1937 – they had not yet received Royal approval by the time of his abdication.

King Edward VIII ruled for just 326 days in 1936 before abdicating in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. (PA) (Image: PA)

This means that they were never put into circulation by the treasury.

Tim Wilkes, Head of the Coin Department at Noonans, has explained the coin’s historical significance: “Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 before any coins in his name were released into circulation in Britain.

“Patterns of each denomination had been prepared (all dated 1937) but at the time of the abdication they had not yet received royal approval.

“After the abdication, the few coins which had been struck were locked away, and work began on the coinage of the new king, George VI.

“It is not known how the coins in private hands came to be in the public domain, so opportunities to acquire any of these coins are very rare and we expect this coin to be keenly contested.”

The coin is to be sold between September 19 and 20 and is one of only two believed to be in private hands.

It was originally sold at a US auction in 1978 with the remaining four being housed in the Royal Collection of the British Museum and in the Royal Mint Collection.

The news comes as the Royal Mint rolls out 50p coins to mark King Charles III’s Coronation.

The Post Office and UK bank branches will receive five million of the coins which celebrate Charles’ coronation that took place earlier this year.

The coins are the second 50ps to enter circulation bearing Charles’s official coin portrait and they feature a design by Royal Mint coin designer Natasha Jenkins.

The Edward VIII half-crown coin was minted but never issued due to his controversial abdication ( PA) (Image: PA)

How long was Edward VIII King?

Edward VIII, who was the uncle of the late Queen Elizabeth II, ruled for just 326 days in 1936.

The monarch infamously abdicated in order to marry an American divorcée named Wallis Simpson.

Edward VIII was the second monarch of the House of Windsor following the death of his father, George V, in 1936.

The then-Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, strongly opposed the marriage, deeming a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands as politically and socially unacceptable as a prospective Queen Consort.

The Prime Minister wasn’t the only person to disapprove of the marriage due to his status as the titular head of the Church of England – an organisation that also denounced remarriage if a former spouse was still living.

Edward VIII abdicated his throne and was replaced by his younger brother, George VI when it became clear that Baldwin would resign, triggering a general election and ruining the King’s status as a politically neutral ruler.