This coin in this case is one of a number of silver crown pieces being issued in proof form in commemoration of The Queen's Silver Jubilee. Each of the crowns is struck in sterling silver and has a diameter of 38.61 mm and a weight of 28.276 grammes.
The obverse of the United Kingdom crown is an equestrian portrait of The Queen by Arnold Machin. The Queen is shown in her uniform as Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, one of the uniforms worn by Her Majesty at the ceremony of Trooping the Colour. For the numismatist the design will recall the Coronation crown of 1953 and crowns of Edward VI, James I and Charles I with their handsome and often lively portraits of the Monarch on horseback.
The reverse which is also by Arnold Machin shows, within a floral garland, the ampulla and annointing spoon that were used in the coronation ceremony. Renovated for the coronation of Charles II, these are believed to date respectively from the 14th and 12th centuries and are probably the oldest items in the Regalia to have remained in continual use.
The other crowns in the series bear the standard portrait effigy of The Queen by Arnold Machin with inscriptions designed by William Gardner. The reverse designs, all of which incorporate the name of the issuing country and the denominational value, are as follows:-
GIBRALTAR ?twenty five pence-
A border of Barbary Apes and foliage encircling the shield from the Arms of Gibraltar.
The Apes are well known inhabitants of the famous rock which gets its name from the Arabic ?jabel Tariq? (Tariq?s mountain) after the Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad who settled there in 711 AD.
The design is by Christopher Ironside.
