Issued to mark Elizabeth II's 80th birthday, this is one of a cluster of large-format silver pieces Gibraltar produced throughout the 2000s by licensing royal commemorative themes — a revenue model the territory leaned on heavily during that decade. The embedded diamond is a genuine stone, not synthetic, a detail Gibraltar's issuing authority used to distinguish the piece from comparable Commonwealth commemoratives of the same year.
At 155.5 g, the flan required striking in multiple passes. Edge quality on these is often uneven as a result.
Issued to mark Elizabeth II's 80th birthday, this is one of a cluster of large-format silver pieces Gibraltar produced throughout the 2000s by licensing royal commemorative themes — a revenue model the territory leaned on heavily during that decade. The embedded diamond is a genuine stone, not synthetic, a detail Gibraltar's issuing authority used to distinguish the piece from comparable Commonwealth commemoratives of the same year.
At 155.5 g, the flan required striking in multiple passes. Edge quality on these is often uneven as a result.