Queen Elizabeth II ‘The Equestrian Portrait’ Crown Set

Description

This year’s Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated with a crown sized £5 coin depicting Queen Elizabeth II on horseback. This is a special design that has a very special tradition in Britain as it was used for commemorative coins for her Coronation, along with two of her previous royal jubilees.  This set brings all four of these British crown-sized coins together, for the 1953 Coronation, the 1977 Silver Jubilee, the 2002 Golden Jubilee and the NEW 2022 Platinum Jubilee.

Queen Elizabeth II is the only British monarch ever to have celebrated a Platinum Jubilee (70th anniversary of reign). She is also the only monarch for whom Britain has produced commemorative crown coins not only for her coronation but also for all of her major jubilees. Her Coronation and three of those jubilees have included a heritage-style portrait of the queen on horseback – not the usual side profile of her head, but an ‘Equestrian Portrait’ depicting her seated on horseback.

This style of portrait dates back to the very first English silver crown minted in the year 1551 for King Edward VI.

This set includes an original example of all four of these crown-sized commemorative coins for Her Late Majesty’s Jubilees:

Coin 1 – The coronation crown of 1953

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was held more than a year after Her accession, on 2 June 1953; this followed the tradition that a festival such as a Coronation was inappropriate during the period of mourning that followed the death of the preceding sovereign.

Part of the celebrations of the Coronation was the issue of a commemorative crown, the first in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It has a number of distinctive features.

For the first time since the reign of King Charles I an equestrian portrait of the monarch was adopted in which Her Majesty is depicted riding sidesaddle on a prancing horse, a riding stock in Her left hand and reins in Her right. As Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards she is shown wearing the uniform of that office, complete with plumed cap. On either side appears the Royal Cypher ‘EIIR’, royally crowned and to either side of the face value FIVE SHILLINGS is a thistle and a rose.

The reverse design is by Edgar Fuller, four shields displaying the quarterings of the Royal Arms disposed in a cross saltire pattern and centred on a crown. In the angles, floral emblems signifying the four countries of the United Kingdom – a thistle for Scotland, a rose for England, a shamrock for Ireland, and a leek for Wales dividing the date 1953.

This crown also featured an inscribed edge: “FAITH AND TRUTH I WILL BEAR UNTO YOU” is impressed into the edge. This phrase was part of the Homage paid to Her Majesty towards the end of the Coronation service in Westminster Abbey by the ‘Princes and Peers of the Realm’, beginning with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The coin in this set has been selected by our specialists as it has survived in choice quality making it desirable to collectors. This is the cupronickel version in Uncirculated quality.

Coin 2 – The Silver Jubilee Crown of 1977

This was the first British jubilee commemorative coin in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and it has a number of distinctive features.

The obverse design continues a tradition in depicting an equestrian portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, as on the Coronation crown of 1953. She is shown riding side-saddle as before, on the occasion of the Trooping of the Colour on Horse Guards Parade in that year. However, there are one or two minor differences that together make for a more pleasing portrait. The horse is shown broadside on and in greater detail – altogether more animated, with outstretched tail, not prancing.

The reverse is remarkable as it features no legend at all: within a circle in the centre are depicted the Ampulla and Spoon which are used for the Anointing at the heart of the Coronation ceremony. The ampulla and spoon are older than the other objects of the Regalia, being relics of the articles in use before the Commonwealth, during which the Regalia was destroyed. The inner circle is surrounded by a wide border on which is depicted, at the top, St Edward’s crown as used at the Coronation. The rest of the border is taken up with curving branches bearing the leaves and fruit of the olive tree which spring to left and right from one stem at the foot. (In modern coronations a plain olive oil is used for the Anointing.) Both designs. on the obverse and the reverse, are the work of Arnold Machin.

The coin in this set has been selected by our specialists as it has survived in choice quality making it desirable to collectors. This is the cupronickel version in Uncirculated quality.

Coin 3 – The Golden Jubilee £5 ‘Crown’ of 2002

The British crown-sized £5 coin for the Golden Jubilee featured an Equestrian Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II carrying on the tradition which had begun with the 1953 Coronation crown and then continued with the first jubilee crown of 1977 (also in this set). The legend includes the phrase AMOR POPULI PRAESIDIVM REG(INAE) which means “The love of the people is the Queen’s protection”.

On the obverse side it featured a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley and this portrait was only used on this coin and it is the only coin ever to feature it. This portrait combines dignity with informality in the person of The Late Queen on the occasion of her 50th year of reign.

The coin in this set has been selected by our specialists as it has survived in choice quality making it desirable to collectors. This is the cupronickel version in Uncirculated quality.

Coin 4 – The Platinum Jubilee £5 ‘crown’ of 2022

For this year’s Platinum Jubilee a new crown-sized British £5 coin has been produced. A special commemorative version of this coin features an Equestrian Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by John Bergdahl, LINKING THIS COIN WITH THOSE OF 1977 AND 2002! What a wonderful historical ‘cycle’, spanning Her Late Majesty’s Silver, Golden and Platinum Jubilees!

The coin in this set has been selected by our specialists as it has survived in choice quality making it desirable to collectors. This is the cupronickel version in Uncirculated quality.