5 Pounds - Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee, Platinum Piedfort

The Diamond Jubilee piedfort was issued to mark sixty years of Elizabeth II's reign — a threshold reached by only one other British monarch, Victoria, whose own Diamond Jubilee in 1897 set the modern precedent for such commemorations. The platinum piedfort specification, at roughly twice the depth of a standard coin, produces a piece that by weight alone ranks among the most substantial non-bullion issues ever released by the Royal Mint in a single calendar year.

Mintage was strictly limited, with individual certificates of authenticity issued to each purchaser — a practice the Mint formalized for platinum piedfort releases specifically because secondary market fraud had become a documented problem with earlier precious-metal commemoratives.