Bare head of George VI facing left, surrounded by the legend, an abbreviated translation of “George VI, by the Grace of God, King”.

George VI (1895–1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936. However, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman and remain king. Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.

Engraver: Thomas Humphrey Paget

Depicts the Matthew, the ship historians believe John Cabot was sailing when he discovered Newfoundland, below which reads the Latin inscription "May the New Found Land Flourish", surrounded by the facial value and the country name.

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto, c. 1450 – c. 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 discovery of the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest known European exploration of coastal North America since the Norse visits to Vinland in the eleventh century.

Lack of clear documentation has been a problem in studying the history of Matthew. Even its name has been questioned, with some authors suggesting that it was actually named Mattea after Cabot's wife. Until the 1950s, all that was known about its size is that it was a small ship carrying about 18 men, but the discovery of a letter from a Bristol merchant named John Day written in 1497 saying that "in his voyage he had only one ship of fifty 'toneles' and twenty men and food for seven or eight months" provided more certainty about its size. It has been suggested that it probably was an ordinary Bristol merchant ship hired for the occasion.

Engraver: Thomas Shingles