1 Crown - Elizabeth II Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award was founded in 1956 by Prince Philip, who modeled it partly on Kurt Hahn's Gordonstoun school programs and the earlier Outward Bound movement. By 1981, the scheme had expanded to dozens of countries and was marking its 25th anniversary — the likely prompt for this issue. The Isle of Man has long used crown-sized commemoratives as a revenue stream, and the Pobjoy Mint, which held the territory's contract through much of this period, produced a considerable number of such pieces with limited circulation ambition.