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2023 will see the coronation of a new monarch, the first for over seventy years. It reminds us how special an event this is. There will certainly be special coins to commemorate the event, but it may surprise you to learn that of the five monarchs to precede King Charles III only three of them had crown coins issued for their coronation year, and of those only two were commemorative designs.
We take for granted that commemorative coins are produced for all major national celebrations, but that’s not always been the case.
The coronation of King George V for example led to the striking of specially prepared Proof coins in 1911 but these were the regular circulating designs and the sets are quite possibly meant to be more of a record of the new monarch’s coinage than a celebration of his coronation. In fact, the only regnal milestone commemorated in his reign was the Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) of reign in 1935, marked with a specially designed silver crown coin. His son and successor, King George VI, was crowned in 1937 and again, there were mintings of his new coinage, but there was also a one-year only silver crown coin to mark the coronation. This featured the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. It was the last silver crown coin ever to be put into circulation in Britain.
Queen Elizabeth II, who was crowned in 1953, also had her coronation celebrated with a commemorative design crown coin. All of Britain’s circulation coins were no longer silver, being made from more durable and less ‘precious’ cupronickel. It featured the young queen on horseback, a style borrowed from silver crown coins of centuries past, and one that would be borrowed for the coins of her Silver, Golden and Platinum Jubilees.
It will be interesting to see what coins enter circulation in Britain to bear witness to the coronation of our new king, but they will join a select group of earlier coins for regnal celebrations of the monarchs who have gone before him.
