1 Crown - Elizabeth II H.M.S. Ark Royal, Silver Proof

HMS Ark Royal (R07), the fourth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name, was decommissioned in 1979 after just over two decades of service — a retirement that proved politically contentious given the concurrent cancellation of a planned replacement carrier. Gibraltar's decision to commemorate the ship in 1993 came fourteen years after decommissioning, roughly coinciding with renewed public debate over British naval force projection following the Falklands War.