On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:16:15 -0700 (PDT), Stephen Allcroft
wrote:

On 11 Jun, 19:56, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:27 +0100, "Peter Masson"

wrote:

"Charles Ellson" wrote

Crowns tended to be issued above face value in proof condition but the
1953 coins were IMU the first to be issued as part of a set of coins
in "uncirculated" condition (as was the 1965 Churchill Crown). AFAIAA
the 1953 uncirculated set was issued at or near face value so many
(like my mother's) possibly disappeared/dispersed when there was an
urgent need for cash.

When were crowns last minted as normal currency, as opposed to
commemoratives?

That might be down to interpretation. The last intentionally-regular
issues for general circulation seem to have been after the 1887 Royal
Jubilee. Since then have been mostly commemorative issues but even
before Victoria's time they don't seem to have been established as an
"everyday" issue. I suspect their size possibly clashed with some kind
of practical threshold above which coins were inconvenient to carry or
handle.

Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
small to be convenient to handle.

They're almost impossible to pick up when dropped on a hard floor
without long fingernails. I've taken to hoarding them, along with
pennies and tuppences, and exchanging them at the bank when I have a
bagful.