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The British crown, the successor to the English crown and the Scottish dollar, came into being with the Union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland in 1707. As with the English coin, its value was five shillings.
There were only two crown issued during the reign of George VI. The first was in 1937 for his Coronation, and the second issue was in 1951 for the Festival of Britain.
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the original plan to celebrate the centennial of the Great Exhibition of 1851. However it was not to be another World Fair, for international themes were absent, as was the British Commonwealth. Instead the 1951 festival focused entirely on Britain and its achievements. The Labour government was losing support and so the implicit goal of the festival was to give the people a feeling of successful recovery from the war's devastation, as well as promoting British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts.
Obverse
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Bare head of the King George VI facing left. GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D: |
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Reverse
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Depicts St. George on horseback holding short sword, the horse rearing to right over a fallen dragon which has a broken lance in its chest; in exergue, the date and the artist's initials B.P. 1951 B.P. |
Edge |
Incuse Latin lettering: "1851 by the industry of its people the state flourishes 1951" MDCCCLI CIVIUM INDUSTRIA FLORET CIVITAS MCMLI |
5 Shillings
Festival of Britain
KM# 880 Sp# 4111
Festival of Britain
Characteristics
Type | Commemorative Issue (Circulating) |
Material | Cupronickel |
Weight | 28.3 g |
Diameter | 38.5 mm |
Thickness | 2.9 mm |
Shape | round |
Alignment | Medal |
Mint |
Royal Mint
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