I'm curious to see if the attached image posts. If not, picture a coin about twice the thickness and diameter of a US quarter with Her Majesty on one side with "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F. D. 1965" and a relief of Sir Winston S. Churchill with "CHURCHILL" in block capitals on the flipside. There's no face value so I'm guessing it's commemorative, especially since the date coincides with his passing. I'm curious about it's history, who minted it, how many were minted and if it goes by a common name. Kevin Incidentally, I know the other one is a quarter. d:^)
That my friend is a Churchill Crown, minted to commemorate the passing of Sir Winston in 1965. It is a five shilling coin from the UK, and a very very very common one at that. Also considered to be the most ugly coin the UK has ever produced. Mintage figure for these is roughly 19.5 million pieces struck.
I never figured it was a coin with actual cash value. Were coins of this size and color (colour) just understood to be crowns in the pre-decimal era? I never thought it was particularly ugly or attractive, but as an Yank kid I was struck by the size & weight. It's about the biggest coin I've ever held. I can image a pocket full of these would bring down anyone's opinion of them, or their pants for that matter. Definitely something for the tourists. But they sure are great for flipping and skipping! Kevin d;^)
Well they would be called crowns, and the ones produced up until 1902 were intended for circulation (not that they did so much though!). All the ones produced after 1927-1937, 1951, 1953, 1960 and 1965 were either struck in small numbers for sets or for Christmas gifts, although some made it into circulation. The stuff after 1937 were commemoratives. But you Americans used to have dollar coins the same size during the 1920s and 30s, some of which were still around in the early 60s.
I was amazed when I learned that those huge crowns - similar to today's £5 coins - were 25p only in decimal currency. Some crowns (from Guernsey, for example) actually say "25 Pence". Ceterum censeo ... the Churchill Crown is not really that bad The portrait is quite interesting; it is just the "font" used for the word "Churchill" that I find too bold or maybe too intrusive. Christian
http://www.predecimal.com/images/celtic/cantiipotinobv.jpeg this, hands down is the worst i've ever seen. probably worth a lot too given it's age. d:^P
Well there's a bit of a difference if you compare something of that age with a Churcher, i mean we have a lot more sophisticated techniques these days, and look at the mess of the Churchill. The celtic one ain't pretty but most coins from that time period look a little crude like that. Syl.
