Description
This striking $20 fine silver coin has been issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in anticipation of the May 6th , 2023 Coronation of King Charles III and features a coloured stone encrusted gold plated element representing the St. Edward’s Crown. Mintage is limited to just 6,000 coins.
While the Imperial Crown is most often worn by the monarch for formal events, it is the St. Edward’s Crown that is most revered and worn only once by each monarch on their coronation day. Versions of St. Edward’s Crown have been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 11th century. The current crown was made in 1661 for King Charles II, and it was last used for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.
The Design:
The main coin design features an artistic representation of the front cross pattée from the St. Edward’s Crown bordered by a row of beads. The gold-plated embellishment is studded with coloured glass stones that stand in for some of the coronation crown’s many gemstones.
The obverse features the posthumous memorial effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, including the 2023 issue date and the dates of reign 1952-2022.
St. Edward's Crown:
With its long history and important function, St. Edward’s crown is considered to be the most treasured of all the Royal Jewels. The crown is composed of a solid gold frame set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including amethysts, aquamarines, garnet, peridot, rubies, topazes, tourmalines and sapphires. Similar to the medieval crown that inspired its design, the St. Edward’s Crown is distinguished by four crosses pattée (like the one featured on this coin), four fleurs-de-lis and gold bead-adorned arches that surround the ermine-trimmed velvet cap.
