The first silver crown coin ever issued for the accession of a British monarch, celebrating Britain’s new king, Charles III.
This is a great moment in British history: we have a new monarch for the first time in over seventy years, and our first king since the mid-twentieth century. There are generations alive today for whom this will be the first time they have uttered the words “God save the king”.
For our new king, new commemorative silver crown
In this day-and-age of instant news it’s easy to gloss over just how significant this event is: the last time there was a change of monarch in Britain, the average house price was just under £1,900, wartime rationing was still in place, a pint of beer cost 9p, a pint of milk 4p, and only 8% of households had a fridge.
Comparisons such as this illustrate just how long it’s been since Britain had a new monarch. This is an event that many people may only ever see once in their lifetime and so it is entirely appropriate that those who wish to mark this event in their lives, and in the history of our nation, are able to own something precious to anchor this memory.
This is why the accession of King Charles III is being marked with a special commemorative silver crown coin.
It features the King’s royal cypher on one side along with floral symbols of the four countries of the United Kingdom, a reminder of the new king’s visit to those four nations upon his accession. On the obverse side is a portrait of the king by artist Jody Clark, designer of the final portrait of the Late Queen Elizabeth II.
King Charles III faces the opposite way to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as dictated by centuries of tradition
It may surprise you to see that King Charles III faces left, the opposite direction to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. This is actually a tradition that dates back to the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the reign of our new king’s namesake, King Charles II.
This tradition has not been evident for the 70 years during which we had just one monarch – Queen Elizabeth II – and in fact, for over 50 of those years, we have had only her coins in circulation as the change to decimal currency in 1971 removed any coins of previous monarchs that may have been in circulation up until that point.
This is why it may seem slightly unusual to see our new monarch facing in the opposite direction to his mother, but this is in fact upholding a centuries-old tradition – but for the first time in generations.
