50 Pence - Charles III The First Motor Race, Silver Proof

The first motor race on British soil took place at Emancipation Run in 1896 — not a circuit race but a point-to-point drive from London to Brighton, staged partly to celebrate the repeal of the Red Flag Act, which had required self-propelled vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot. The Isle of Man's connection to motorsport runs considerably deeper, of course, through the Tourist Trophy races established there in 1907, made possible by the island's ability to close public roads — something mainland Britain could not legally do.