1/25 Crown - Elizabeth II Paddington Bear, Gold Proof

Paddington Bear appeared in Michael Bond's first story in 1958, but it took four decades for the character to reach bullion format. Gibraltar was among the most aggressive issuers of licensed character coinage in the 1990s, producing fractional gold pieces for the collector market that had little to do with circulation and everything to do with the gift trade. The 1/25 Crown denomination is a Gibraltar invention — no standard coinage framework underlies it.