Bare head of the King George VI facing left.

The legend is an abbreviated translation of “George VI by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains”.

Engraver: Thomas Humphrey Paget

Crowned Tudor rose flanked by thistle and shamrock, legend above, denomination and date below.

The legend is an abbreviated translation of “Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India”. Georgius Rex (G R) is a Royal Cypher of George VI.

The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty.

When Henry VII took the crown of England from Richard III in battle (1485), he brought the end of the retrospectively dubbed "Wars of the Roses" between the House of Lancaster (one monarch of which had sometimes used the badge of a red or gold rose) and the House of York (which had lately used a white-rose badge). Henry's father was Edmund Tudor from the House of Richmond (maternally), and his mother was Margaret Beaufort from the House of Lancaster; in January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York to bring all factions together. (In battle, Richard III fought under the banner of the boar, and Henry under the banner of the dragon of his native Wales.) The white rose versus red rose juxtaposition was Henry's invention.

The Tudor Crown, also known as the King's Crown or Imperial Crown, is a widely used symbol in heraldry of the United Kingdom. While various crown symbols had been used for this purpose for many years previously, the specific Tudor Crown design was standardised at the request of Edward VII. It was never intended to represent any actual physical crown, although in shape it bears a close resemblance to the small diamond crown of Queen Victoria.

Engraver: George Edward Kruger Gray