The seated lion with sword and sceptre on this 1939 shilling is the emblem of Scotland: it is the crest of the Royal Arms in their Scottish version. From 1937 the shilling was struck every year in two versions, English and Scottish, and this is the Scottish one.

A crowned lion sits facing on a crown, holding a sword and a sceptre, with a shield bearing the St Andrew’s cross to the left and a thistle to the right. The design is by George Kruger Gray and predates George VI: a 1937 pattern shilling of Edward VIII with the same Scottish reverse is known.

The obverse carries the uncrowned portrait of George VI by Thomas Humphrey Paget, whose initials HP appear in the legend. The inscription FID DEF IND IMP means Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

More than 10 million Scottish shillings in .500 silver were struck in 1939, the year Britain entered the Second World War. Paired with the English shilling of the same year, it shows both faces of George VI’s shilling.

The F-VF grade means a circulated coin: wear ranges from even, pronounced wear (F) to noticeable wear on the high points of the relief (VF), while the lion, sword, sceptre, thistle and lettering remain legible.

Numismatics begins with a single coin and continues in the VPcoins catalogue.