1 Penny - Elizabeth II Quincentenary of the College of Arms, Platinum Proof

The College of Arms received its royal charter from Richard III in 1484, making 1984 the legitimate 500th anniversary of an institution that had survived the Tudor erasure of nearly everything associated with its founder. Pobjoy struck this piece for the Isle of Man, producing platinum alongside gold and silver versions of the same type — a tiered commemorative approach the mint used repeatedly during the 1980s to maximize collector appeal across price points.

At .950 platinum and 8 grams, the production cost alone would have dwarfed the face value many times over, making circulation an irrelevance from the outset.