20 Pence - Elizabeth II Rushen Abbey, Silver Proof

Rushen Abbey, founded by Cistercian monks in 1134 and dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540, sat largely in ruin for centuries before becoming one of the Isle of Man's most carefully excavated medieval sites in the late twentieth century. The decision to feature it on a commemorative struck at the millennium was deliberate — the Manx government had invested heavily in the abbey's restoration throughout the 1990s.

The KM# 890 belongs to a broad series of Isle of Man silver proofs that proliferated under the Pobjoy Mint contract, which gave the island unusual latitude to issue collector coinage far exceeding the needs of domestic circulation.