Obverse. Photo © Heritage Auctions
  • 5 Pounds 2001, KM# 1015b, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of Death of Queen Victoria
  • 5 Pounds 2001, KM# 1015b, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of Death of Queen Victoria
Description

This coin was issued to mark 100 years since Queen Victoria death and the end of the Victorian era.

Victoria (1819–1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. She inherited the throne at the age of 18, after her father's three elder brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe". Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and was longer than that of any of her predecessors. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Obverse

Fourth crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread use on British banknotes and coinage.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX means Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith.

Engraver: Ian Rank-Broadley

ELIZABETH·II·D·G REG·F·D·2001
IRB

Reverse

A representation of Crystal Palace within the value FIVE POUNDS, stylised railway lines in the shape of a V incorporating the profile of Victoria by William Wyon which was used for British stamps from 1840 to 1902, remnant of the words ONE PENNY and anniversary dates of 1901 and 2001.

The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and plate-glass structure originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in its 990,000-square-foot (92,000 m2) exhibition space to display examples of technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m).

Engraver: Mary Milner-Dickens

1901 2001
E PE
5 POUNDS

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Gold
Fineness 0.916
Weight 39.94 g
Diameter 38.61 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Mint

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