5 Pounds - Elizabeth II 5th portrait, The Queen's Reign, Commonwealth of Nations

Issued in the final months of Elizabeth II's life, this piece belongs to a commemorative program the Royal Mint launched to mark her Platinum Jubilee — seventy years on the throne, a reign longer than any other British monarch in history. She died in September 2022, roughly four months after the jubilee celebrations concluded.

The Commonwealth angle reflects a political reality that was already fraying: several member nations had moved to remove her as head of state in the years immediately preceding, with Barbados completing that transition in November 2021.