Gibraltar has issued commemorative crowns with unusual regularity since the 1970s, and royal birthday pieces form a substantial subset of that output. This 2016 issue marks Elizabeth II's 90th birthday — the same milestone that generated dozens of competing commemoratives across Crown Dependencies and Commonwealth territories that year. The fourth effigy, sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley and adopted by most Commonwealth mints from 1998 onward, was already approaching the end of its official run; Jody Clark's fifth portrait was introduced on UK coinage in 2015.
Gibraltar has issued commemorative crowns with unusual regularity since the 1970s, and royal birthday pieces form a substantial subset of that output. This 2016 issue marks Elizabeth II's 90th birthday — the same milestone that generated dozens of competing commemoratives across Crown Dependencies and Commonwealth territories that year. The fourth effigy, sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley and adopted by most Commonwealth mints from 1998 onward, was already approaching the end of its official run; Jody Clark's fifth portrait was introduced on UK coinage in 2015.