50 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait, Victoria Cross, soldier

Issued to mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross in 2006, this fifty pence was the first in what became a paired release — one depicting a naval scene, one a soldier. The VC itself was instituted by Royal Warrant in January 1856, backdated to cover acts of valor during the Crimean War, and the metal used to cast the original crosses was taken from Russian cannon captured at Sevastopol. That tradition has continued: crosses awarded to this day are still cast from the same dwindling stock of Crimean bronze, now held by the 15th Regiment Royal Logistic Corps.