Obverse. Photo © Downies
  • 1 Dollar 2018, Tuvalu, Elizabeth II, Evolution of Industry, Steam Power
  • 1 Dollar 2018, Tuvalu, Elizabeth II, Evolution of Industry, Steam Power
  • 1 Dollar 2018, Tuvalu, Elizabeth II, Evolution of Industry, Steam Power, Acrylic case with a mechanism to rotate the coins
Description

The Perth Mint has released the innovative 1oz silver gear-shaped two-coin set, illustrating historic inventions using steam and electricity. Key developments in these areas spurred industrial and technological advances resulting in what we know today as the First and Second Industrial Revolutions.

The Industrial Revolution, which began more than 200 years ago, ushered in enormous changes to human society. Handcraft workers from rural communities moved to densely packed urban environments where they were employed for long hours in grimy factories dominated by noisy machinery. Driven by the invention of new technology and adoption of new processes, the industrial revolution had dramatic effects on economics, politics and culture.

Fundamental to mechanisation was the development of Boulton and Watt's steam engine. One of its first applications was pumping water from mineshafts at the growing number of collieries required to satisfy another key facilitator of industrialisation - coal.

Beginning around 1870, the Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, marked a new, even more rapid phase of industrialisation. It was characterised by many important inventions, notably in electricity which replaced steam as the main source of industrial power.

The Two-coin set is presented in an acrylic case with a mechanism to rotate the coins. The case sits within a themed shipper and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

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.

Engraver: Ian Rank-Broadley

QUEEN ELIZABETH II
IRB
1oz 9999 SILVER 2018 TUVALU 1 DOLLAR

Reverse

Depicts a number of significant inventions that contributed to the First Industrial Revolution. Imagery represents an early steam locomotive and the railways; the chimneys of Britain's mills and early factories which used steam power for driving machinery on a large scale; a flywheel and other components symbolising elements of Boulton and Watt's steam engine; and an early steamboat similar to the type pioneered for use on the Forth and Clyde canal by William Syymington.

Engraver: Tom Vaughan

P
TV

Edge

1 Dollar

4th portrait, Silver Gear-Shaped Coin
KM#
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.999
Weight 31.107 g
Diameter 38.5 mm
Width -
Height -
Thickness 4.1 mm
Shape odd (fan)
Alignment Medal
Mint
The Perth Mint

Related coins

4th portrait, Silver Gear-Shaped Coin, Electricity

Evolution of Industry

Silver, 31.107 g, ⌀ 38.5 mm