1898 Crown


The 1898 Crown - Queen Victoria

The Obverse shows the Old Head (Veiled Head) portrait of Queen Victoria by Sir Thomas Brock.

The Reverse shows St George and the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci.

Edge inscribed "DECUS ET TUTAMEN" (An ornament and a safeguard) with the Regnal date: "ANNO REGNI LXI" or "ANNO REGNI LXII" representing the 61st or 62nd year of Victoria's reign. The LXI is slighty more valuable.

Die axis ^^.

Images by permission of M J Hughes Coins.


Mintage: 161,400 (may include coins in sets)
Minted at The Royal Mint.
Remember 1898 ?
The Monarch is Queen Victoria. Prime Minister is Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Coalition). US President is William McKinley (R-Ohio). Harrods in Knightsbridge install UK's first (stepless) escalator. H. G. Wells publishes The War of the Worlds.
Victoria (1837-1901)
Victoria 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. Victoria ruled for 64 years, a record only recently surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II.
 
Victoria's parents were Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathern, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She married Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who later became known as Prince Albert. Victoria had nine children, the eldest son succeeding her as Edward VII.


Victoria posed for a number of head portraits, but there are generally three major variants: Young Head (1838-1887) by William Wyon, RA; Jubilee Head (1887-1893) by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm and Old Head (1893-1901) by by Sir Thomas Brock.

Category: Crowns
The Crown is a very old coin, with origins dating back to Henry VIII. The English Crown first appeared in 1526. It was made of 22 carat gold ("crown gold") and has a value of five shillings (a quarter of a pound).

By 1551, silver was being used to produce crowns, although gold was sometimes still used. The silver crown was quite large, being about 38mm and weighing about one ounce. Around that time many Europeans countries had similar sized silver coins which made them good for international trade as they were essentially interchangeable.

The metal used was 92.5% silver and the rest copper so as to make the coin harder. This hardness, together with a milled edge, made 'clipping' (which was cutting slices off the edge to steal some free silver) more difficult.

After the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 a new coin, the British Crown, replaced the English Crown and Scottish Dollar. The value was set at 5 shillings and the size was 38mm in diameter and weighed about 1oz as before.

Now more of a commemorative coin

Although the coin was always part of the British coin family, its large size made it unpopular for general circulation and the half-crown was favoured as the de-facto largest coin in circulation. The Crown was more-or-less relegated to a commemorative coin.

The British economy, especially after the World Wars, took its toll on the crown too. From 1816-1919 the crown was 0.925 silver, this was reduced to 0.500 silver in 1920 and in 1947 the Crown became Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). The size standardised at 38.61 mm and (silver crown) weight of 28.276g (1 oz).

Although not in current circulation, the Crown is still legal tender. After decimalisation in 1971 the Crown was officially valued at 25 pence. In the Eighties we had inflation which brought in higher denomination coins like the pound coin and the two-pound coin, so the Government decided that the crown needed to be restored to it former glory as biggest denomination coin and the crown was re-denominated to £5 in 1990.

Today the Crown is once again made in silver and gold, usually to satisfy collectors and investors. There is a little confusion with this as there are Gold Crowns which are worth £5 but there is another five-pound Gold coin from the sovereign family - see the article on Gold £5 Coin or Gold Crown?
Which Mint: The Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.
If you don't see a coin in the list below try the Crowns page on eBay UK
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Antique 1898 Queen Victoria Sterling Silver Full Crown Coin - Nice Detail
Antique 1898 Queen Victoria Sterling Silver Full Crown Coin - Nice Detail
£ 39.95
1898 LXI VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN EXTREMELY FINE TO NEAR MINT CONDITION
1898 LXI VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN EXTREMELY FINE TO NEAR MINT CONDITION
£ 450.00
1898 LXII VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN GOOD FINE OR SLIGHTLY BETTER CONDITION
1898 LXII VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN GOOD FINE OR SLIGHTLY BETTER CONDITION
£ 50.00
1898 LXII VICTORIA OLD VEILED HEAD 0.925 SILVER CROWN COIN
1898 LXII VICTORIA OLD VEILED HEAD 0.925 SILVER CROWN COIN
£ 38.00
1898 LXII QV OLD VEILED HEAD SILVER CROWN in Good Fine condition
1898 LXII QV OLD VEILED HEAD SILVER CROWN in Good Fine condition
£ 40.00
Silver Crown 1898
Silver Crown 1898
£ 35.00
1898 LXII Crown - Victoria British Silver Coin - Very Nice
1898 LXII Crown - Victoria British Silver Coin - Very Nice
£ 145.00
1898 LXII VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN GOOD FINE CONDITION
1898 LXII VICTORIA SILVER CROWN COIN IN GOOD FINE CONDITION
£ 47.50

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