25 Euros - Elizabeth II Edward VIII abdication

Edward VIII's abdication in December 1936 lasted just 326 days on the throne — short enough that no circulating coinage bearing his portrait ever reached the public in Britain. The Tower Mint's 1996 commemorative falls on the 60th anniversary of the abdication, issued under the authority of a small dependent territory to sidestep the obvious awkwardness of the Royal Mint producing a coin celebrating a constitutional crisis involving the sitting monarch's uncle.

Gilding metal beneath a silver plate ages poorly; surviving examples from this period of Tower Mint production frequently show edge and high-point plating wear within years of issue.