Issued to mark the 25th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation, this is one of the larger Commonwealth silver pieces produced for the occasion — Jamaica struck relatively few examples compared to the flood of commemorative issues that came out of Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean that year. The 1953 coronation itself had coincided almost exactly with Jamaica still under British colonial administration; by 1978 the island had been independent for sixteen years, making the commemorative choice a deliberate diplomatic gesture rather than an act of constitutional obligation.
Issued to mark the 25th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation, this is one of the larger Commonwealth silver pieces produced for the occasion — Jamaica struck relatively few examples compared to the flood of commemorative issues that came out of Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean that year. The 1953 coronation itself had coincided almost exactly with Jamaica still under British colonial administration; by 1978 the island had been independent for sixteen years, making the commemorative choice a deliberate diplomatic gesture rather than an act of constitutional obligation.