The Pobjoy Mint, a private British minting house operating since the 1960s, struck this issue for one of its many client territories rather than under crown authority — a distinction worth noting, as Pobjoy-produced collector pieces from this period vary considerably in actual mintage against stated limits. The "Between Pillars" design references the Spanish imperial device of the Pillars of Hercules, which Elizabeth I's privateers — Drake and Hawkins among them — spent considerable effort plundering from Spanish treasure fleets in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
Mintage figures for this two-year emission have never been formally consolidated in a single authoritative source.
The Pobjoy Mint, a private British minting house operating since the 1960s, struck this issue for one of its many client territories rather than under crown authority — a distinction worth noting, as Pobjoy-produced collector pieces from this period vary considerably in actual mintage against stated limits. The "Between Pillars" design references the Spanish imperial device of the Pillars of Hercules, which Elizabeth I's privateers — Drake and Hawkins among them — spent considerable effort plundering from Spanish treasure fleets in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
Mintage figures for this two-year emission have never been formally consolidated in a single authoritative source.