Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 1 Crown 1980, KM# 12, Gibraltar, Elizabeth II, 175th Anniversary of Death of Horatio Nelson
  • 1 Crown 1980, KM# 12, Gibraltar, Elizabeth II, 175th Anniversary of Death of Horatio Nelson
Description

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne. The territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Obverse

Second 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.

Engraver: Arnold Machin

GIBRALTAR ELIZABETH II
• 1980 •

Reverse

Portrait of Admiral Nelson over his ship HMS Victory on the left during the Battle of Trafalgar.

Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. He was noted for his inspirational leadership, superb grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics, all of which resulted in a number of decisive naval victories, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815). He was significantly wounded several times in combat, losing the sight of his right eye during the campaign in Corsica, and later the amputation of his right arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Atlantic's Canary Islands off northwest Africa. He was shot and killed during his final pivotal victory at the naval Battle of Trafalgar against the combined Napoleonic French and Royal Spanish fleets off the southwest coast of Spain in 1805. Nelson's death at Trafalgar secured his position as one of Britain's most heroic figures.

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

Engraver: Philip Nathan

NELSON 1758•1805
ONE
CROWN

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Cupronickel
Weight 28.47 g
Diameter 38.61 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Mint

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