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5 Pounds - Elizabeth II Jack Cornwell VC, Gold Proof

Issuer Royal Mint
Year 2016
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Diameter 38.61 mm
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Obverse script Latin
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Reverse description Portrait bust of Boy Seaman John Travers Cornwell VC rendered in high relief at centre, flanked by detailed depictions of a Royal Navy battleship and a naval gun emplacement, commemorating his actions at the Battle of Jutland. The peripheral legend is interrupted by poppy blossoms entwined with barbed wire, evoking the First World War commemorative theme. The designer's initials 'DC' appear within the design field. The dates 1914 and 1918 flank the upper legend, denoting the span of the Great War.
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Jack Cornwell was sixteen years old when he stood at his post aboard HMS Chester during the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, mortally wounded and surrounded by dead crewmates, waiting for firing orders that never came. He died two days later. The Victoria Cross awarded posthumously made him one of the youngest recipients in the decoration's history, and his story was aggressively promoted by the wartime government as a recruiting and morale tool — his funeral cortège drew enormous crowds through East London.

This coin marks the centenary of Jutland, Britain's largest naval engagement of the First World War, in which fourteen British ships were lost.

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