Queen Elizabeth II ruled the Commonwealth from 1952 to 2011, making her the longest-serving monarch in British history. In fact, the only royal that sat on the throne longer than she did was Louis XIV of France. And he outlasted her by just two years! But what is the 1965 Queen Elizabeth II Coin Value? With at least eight relevant denominations, let’s find out!
1965 Queen Elizabeth II Coin Price Chart |
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Coin |
Face Value |
Metal |
Grade |
Price |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Maundy Set |
1, 2, 3, and 4
Pence |
Sterling
Silver |
Uncirculated | £375
($474) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Threepence |
Three Pence
(Quarter Shilling) |
Nickel Brass | Uncirculated | £5
($6) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Sixpence |
Six Pence
(Half a Shilling) |
Cupronickel | Uncirculated | £8
($10) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Scottish Shilling |
One Shilling
(12 Pence) |
Cupronickel | Uncirculated | £8
($10) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Florin |
One Florin
(Two Shillings) |
Cupronickel | Uncirculated | £8
($10) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Half Crown |
Thirty Pence
(2 Shillings and 6 Pence) |
Cupronickel | Uncirculated | £10
(13) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Churchill Crown |
5 Shillings
(Quarter Sterling Pound) |
Cupronickel | Extra Fine | £7.95
($10) |
| Queen Elizabeth II
1965 Sovereign |
Gold Equivalent to
One Sterling Pound |
Gold | Extremely Fine | £685
($869) |
History of the 1965 Queen Elizabeth II Coin
Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen Regnant, which means she was the official monarch after her father died in 1952. This is different from a Queen Consort, the wife of the king. She got her title from King George VI, who took over when his brother – King Edward VIII – gave up his throne for love. This abdication started a new royal lineage under his younger brother.
The Queen ruled from age 26 to age 96 before her son King Charles III succeeded her. As we get into the finer coin details, remember that the words struck on a coin are called mottos or legends while the images are called devices. The edge is the thinnest side of the coin. It’s the part that you flip. In terms of grading, the UK and USA scales are similar except for the following:
- AU 50 to AU 58 in the US are graded as U (Uncirculated) in the UK.
- MS 60 to MS 64 in the US are graded as BU (Brilliant Uncirculated) in the UK.
- MS 65 to MS 70 in the US are graded as FDC (Fleur de Coin) in the UK.
Features of the 1965 Queen Elizabeth II Coin
Queen Elizabeth II coins from 1965 have the same obverse (heads side) and various reverses (tails side). Some are round while others are 12-sided. Most have denticles or beading along the rim on the front and back of the coin. Denticles are lines that resemble a fine-toothed comb while beading is a series of raised dots. Some coins have reeded edges. Let’s look at a few.
Obverse of the 1965 Queen Elizabeth II Coin
All 1965 Queen Elizabeth II coins have similar obverse designs. They show the queen at age 26, facing right. She was sculpted by Mary Gillick, and she wears a laurel wreath tied with a ribbon at the back of her head. It reads Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina, sometimes with F.D.
Dei Gratia Regina means ‘By the Grace of God, Queen’. The F.D. or Fid. Def. stands for ‘Fidei Defensatrix’ or Defender of the Faith. The mint date, 1965, is often at the bottom. Some of the coins are punctuated, with + signs, colons, and periods between the mottos and legends.
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Florin
The Florin was a coin that was worth 2 Shillings. That’s 24 pence or 1/10 of a Sterling Pound.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Florin
The floral design centers a Tudor Rose amid leeks, shamrocks, and thistles. It was designed by Cecil Thomas and Edgar Fuller, so both the initials flank the lowest leek at the bottom of the coin. Around the rim, it reads Fid Def, the denomination of Two Shillings, and 1965.
Other Features of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Florin
From 1947 to 1970, florin coins were cupronickel. Their core was 60% to 90% copper with a top coat of nickel to mimic their earlier form. For reference, the coin went from 92.5% to 50% silver to clad. From 1893 to 1970, these coins were 28.5mm across and weighed 11.31g.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Florin
As we mentioned, it takes 10 Florins or 240 pence to make a pound. But in 2023, you can buy a 1965 Queen Elizabeth II Florin for £8 ($10) at the Royal Mint. That’s a 7,900% profit!
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Silver Maundy Set
Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday and every year, the British Monarch visits a designated church and gifts senior citizens a special coin set called Maundy Money. That’s a Sterling Silver penny, tuppence, threepence, and four pence (92.5% silver and 7.5% Copper).
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Silver Maundy Set
The reverse (tails side) of Maundy Money has an oak wreath tied with a ribbon at the bottom and framing a Jean Baptiste Merlen crown at the top. The denomination of the coin sits in the middle – 1, 2, 3, or 4 – with the mint date, 19 and 65, flanking the sides of the face value.
Other Features of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Silver Maundy Set
These Sterling Silver coins (0.925) had beading along the front rim and denticles along the back. Each coin has a different diameter – 11mm, 13mm, 16mm, and 18mm for 1, 2, 3, and 4 pence respectively. The corresponding weight of the coins is 0.47g, 0.94g, 1.41g, and 1.89g.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Silver Maundy Set
Since the King or Queen of England is also the official head of the Church of England (aka the Anglican Church), Maundy Sets are issued every year to echo Jesus washing his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper. The 1965 Maundy Set sells for £375 ($474) at the Royal Mint.
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sixpence
Sixpence is the largest penny denomination (and pence is the plural of penny). It’s half a shilling or 1/40 of a Sterling Pound. Other names for this coin include Sixpenny and Tanner.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sixpence
It features four crossed sprigs or Tudor rose, leek, thistle, and shamrock. They represent the four Home Nations that make up the UK – England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The coin reads Fid Def, Six Pence, 1965. The designer’s initials, EF and CT, flank the larger shamrock.
Other Features of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sixpence
Like all the smaller coins, the sixpence was initially sterling silver, which reduced to 50% and was eventually replaced with nickel. So the 1965 Sixpence included a top coat of 10% to 40% nickel to simulate that silver shine. The coin weighed 2.83g and measured 19.41mm across.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sixpence
The 1965 Sixpence has denticles on the back and beading on the front. It’s a smaller coin, so Fid Def is on the reverse rather than the obverse. It has a + between Regina and Elizabeth on the front. In the Uncirculated grade, this coin currently sells for £8 ($10) at the Royal Mint.
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Half Crown
A Half Crown was worth 2 Shillings and Sixpence (totaling 30 pence), so it was sometimes called a Two-and-Six. Its value was equal to 1/8 of a Sterling Pound before demonetization.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Half Crown
It features the Royal Shield aka the Royal Coat of Arms. The shield is divided into four with the banners for Scotland, Ireland, and a doubled banner for England. (Wales isn’t shown on the shield.) The shield is flanked by ER for Elizabeth Regina and a crown tops the shield. The coin reads Fid Def Half Crown, 1965. The designer’s initials, EF and CT, are under the shield.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Half Crown
Sometimes called Half a Crown, it started life in Sterling Silver but finished in cupronickel. It weighed 14.14g and was 32.31mm across. The Royal Mint sells it for £10 ($13) Uncirculated.
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Brass Threepence
Threepence coins were sometimes referred to as Thruppence or Thruppenny Bits. They were worth three pennies aka one-fourth (one quarter) of a shilling, or 1/80 of a Sterling Pound.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Brass Threepence
It shows a portcullis – a gate made of latticed grills with spikes at the bottom. The gate is flanked by chains and topped with a coronet. It was designed by William Gardner so it has WG under the central spike with the mint date at the bottom and Three Pence on the sides.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Brass Threepence
These coins were 12-sided and in 1965, their metal mix was 79% copper, 20% nickel, and 1% zinc aka Nickel-Brass. This version was between 21mm and 21.8mm across, depending on where you look. It weighs 6.8g. According to Coin Value Checker, it’s worth about £5 ($6).
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sovereign
The Sovereign was a gold coin that was equivalent to one pound of Sterling Silver. Its face value was £1 and it contained 0.234 Troy Ounces of gold. That’s 91.7% gold and 8.3% copper.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sovereign
It shows St. George riding his horse over a dragon as he aims his sword and prepares to kill it. The designer’s initials, BP for Benedetto Pistrucci, are on the lower right, after the date.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Sovereign
This coin weighs 7.998g, measures 22mm in diameter, and is 1.52mm thick. Because of its historic merit plus its gold content, the Royal Mint sells it for £685 ($869) in XF grades.
Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Churchill Crown
This coin can be puzzling to numismatic newcomers because it seems to have two obverses! The coin was minted to honor the death of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, so it has the Queen on one side and Churchill on the other. Technically speaking, Churchill is the reverse.
Reverse of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Churchill Crown
As noted above, the portrait of Winston Churchill faces right, with his name in front of his face. It was designed by Oscar Nemon, who was Churchill’s favorite sculptor. It was only minted for a year and marked the first time a UK coin featured someone that wasn’t a royal.
Value of the Queen Elizabeth II 1965 Churchill Crown
Unlike the beads or denticles on other Queen Elizabeth II coins, the Churchill Crown coin has triangular projections on both the front and the back. It was 38.61mm in diameter and weighed 28.28g. In the grade of Extra Fine (EF or XF), it’s £7.95 ($10) at the Royal Mint.
