1 Crown - Elizabeth II Moscow Olympics

The Isle of Man issued a substantial run of commemorative crowns tied to the 1980 Moscow Olympics, capitalizing on the Pobjoy Mint's productive relationship with the island's government during this period. The timing was awkward: the United States and dozens of other nations boycotted the Games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, making Moscow 1980 a politically freighted subject for any issuer in the Western orbit. The Isle of Man, operating under its own Tynwald legislature rather than Westminster, was under no obligation to mirror British foreign policy on commemorative coinage.