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5 Pounds - Elizabeth II Battle of Alma 1854
| Issuer | Jersey |
|---|---|
| Year | 2009 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, rendered in high relief after the fourth definitive portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley. The truncation of the bust bears the engraver's initials IRB. The peripheral legend reads ELIZABETH II BAILIWICK OF JERSEY, with the date 2009 completing the inscription. |
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| Reverse description | Central field depicts a dynamic battle scene commemorating the Battle of Alma of 20 September 1854, during the Crimean War, featuring three British soldiers in period uniform: an officer on rearing horseback brandishing a sword aloft, flanked by two infantrymen — one wearing a bearskin shako and carrying a rifle with fixed bayonet. The legend GREAT BATTLES arcs across the upper field, with BATTLE OF ALMA 1854 inscribed to the right in the field, and FIVE POUNDS along the lower periphery. |
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| Additional information |
The Battle of Alma, fought on 20 September 1854, was the first major engagement of the Crimean War — a Franco-British-Ottoman force driving Russian troops from heights above the Alma River in what became an unexpectedly bloody opening to a war that neither side had properly planned for. British commanders were so unprepared that officers brought their wives and civilian observers along on ships, treating the early campaign as something closer to a military excursion. The allied victory opened the road to Sevastopol, though the siege that followed would grind on for nearly a year.
Jersey's connection to this commemorative is administrative rather than historical — the island issues coins under Crown dependency status, making it a common vehicle for British-themed commemoratives with limited direct local relevance.