If you’re interested in knowing the worth of a 1960 crown, it is crucial to understand the different versions of the coin that were produced.
To briefly summarise the regular circulated version is worth around £3 up to £10. New York Exhibition versions are worth between £10 and £30, whereas frosted VIP proof versions can sell for thousands of pounds. These values depend highly on the grade of the coin.
This might sound not very clear at first, but we’ll do our best to walk you through the different versions, where they were minted and why the value varies so much between each.
The 1960 New York Exhibition
In 1960 there was an exhibition in New York that several British manufacturers attended.
One of these manufacturers was the Royal Mint, which had a stand at the event. They had decided to produce some coins at the event as part of their display.
These were crown coins and were struck using a polished die. The mintage for these coins is estimated to be around 70,000, which is a very small amount for any coin never mind one produced at an exhibition overseas.
They were sold to the public at the exhibition with any excess coins taken back to the UK, so there’s a good chance that a lot of these coins are to be found in America and possibly other places across the globe.
‘New York Exhibition’ 1960 Crown
If you search online for a 1960 crown to purchase you will come across endless listings all claiming to have a New York Exhibition version of the coin, but the reality is that most of these listings are false.
This stems from the fact that alongside the exhibition versions of the coin, there were also 1,024,000 crowns minted back in the UK – which was commonplace at the time.
These versions were struck with the same alloy and dimensions but with a much larger mintage and a regular die, rather than the specialised polished die used for the exhibition coins. Most sellers will assume that they have the exhibition version without putting much thought into it.
VIP Proof 1960 Crown
To make things more confusing, there was also a very small amount – estimated to be between 30 and 50 – of VIP proof 1960 crowns issued for ‘very important persons’.
The majority of these fell into private hands or the collections of well-known dealers, and they are known to sell for between £800 and £3,000 today depending on the grade.
It’s important to note that these were not issued at the New York Exhibition, and you’ll only really encounter these coins at auction.
Summary Of The Different Versions
To make things easier to visualise, we’ve summarised each of the versions of the 1960 crown below; including mintage, estimated value and
| Version | Mintage | Estimated Value |
| Regular | 1,024,000 | £3-£10 |
| New York Exhibition Polished Die | 70,000 | £10-£30 |
| VIP Proof | 30-50 | £800-£3,000 |
The values above are based on estimates from average values obtained on auction sites, coin dealerships as well as eBay.
The actual value of any 1960 crown depends highly on the grade of the coin.
How To Tell The Difference Between The Different Versions
The polished die that was used for the exhibition coins is typically used for proof coins, therefore the finish of these versions is prooflike rather than the standard issue versions from the same year.
As you can see from the photos above the prooflike, or New York Exhibition versions, are to a higher standard and present fewer marks and signs of wear.
VIP proof versions are to an even higher standard, and you can look at past auction results of confirmed VIP proof coins to get an idea of the quality of finish that you would expect. These were also issued with a Royal Mint box, and therefore this would confirm the legitimacy.
Final Thoughts
Given how rare the New York Exhibition 1960 crown is, we are still shocked to see how little (relatively) they sell for.
If you want to purchase one of these coins make sure you go through a reputable dealer who can point you in the direction of a legitimate version. Unfortunately, most sellers on platforms like eBay don’t realise that the coin they are selling is a regular issue 1960 crown rather than the ones produced at the exhibition with the polished die.
If you want to learn about other interesting 20th-century crowns, consider reading our recent articles on coins such as the 1935 jubilee crown, of which the gold version is worth upwards of £100,000, or the 1953 coronation crown which celebrated the start of Her Majesties record-breaking reign.