Diamond Jubilee Coin Details Released
She came to the throne on 6th February 1952, and the country celebrated her coronation on 2nd June 1953. She’s the second longest serving monarch in Britain’s history and the second longest serving monarch alive today (the longest serving is saxophonist King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand).
For nearly 60 years, Queen Elizabeth II has been the Head of State of Britain and its Commonwealth, and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. If she is still on the throne on 10th September 2015 she will become the longest serving Monarch of Britain, having passed the record set by Queen Victoria who was Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother.
But first, she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, and the Royal Mint is to commemorate the event with a specially minted £5 coin. It had wanted to keep details of the coin secret until nearer its release, but due to the public availability of a government document which reveals some details about the new effigy it has been forced to allow stories about the new coin to be published immediately.
Ian Rank-Broadley, a sculptor who has a history with the Mint that stretches back more than a decade, has designed the effigy. On the coins of the realm since 1998, it is his effigy of the Queen that appears on the obverse. He also won the Royal Mint competition in 1998 for his design of the Queen Mother Centennial Crown, as well as being commissioned to design the Golden Jubilee coin in 2002 (see picture).
Queen Elizabeth II 2002 golden jubilee coin.
According to the government document, the obverse design is “inspired by the sculpture mounted in the entrance to the Supreme Court building on Parliament Square.” This sculpture is a bronze-bas relief, from a sitting with the Queen in 2006, and depicts her in garter robes.
This effigy will be the fifth update Queen Elizabeth II on UK coins. However, the Royal Mint has stated that it will not be used to replace the current portrait, and will only be featured on the Diamond Jubilee coins.
There will be six versions of the £5 coin struck. The circulated coin will be a copper-nickel coin, while the Mint will also strike coins in silver, gold-plated silver, piedfort silver, gold, and platinum. Each will be 38.608 millimeters in diameter.
The silver coin will be minted in .925 fine silver, and weigh 28.276 grams, and the double thickness piedfort will weigh 56.552 grams. The edge will be inscribed with “a vow made good” on the silver, gold, and platinum versions, while the copper-nickel and gold-plated silver coins will be reeded on their edges.
The new coins will not be any use for deciding the team that kicks off at the 2012 Olympics Football Tournament, though. The reverse is to feature an adapted effigy from the first coins that were minted after Queen Elizabeth came to the throne.
A coin flipper’s dream: a legal tender double headed coin.
