George VI 1937 Pattern Crown inscribed edge

George VI (1936-52), Pattern trial Crown, dated 1937, struck in cupro-nickel, bare head left, tiny HP below truncation for engraver T. Humphrey Paget, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, GEORGIVS VI D: G: BR: OMN: REX, "120" lightly hand scratched in field by forehead, rev. struck en medaille, crowned quartered shield of arms, lion and unicorn supporters, K and G between legs respectively for engraver Kruger Gray, banner motto below DIEU ET MON DROIT, denomination and date below, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, FED: DEF: : IND: IMP, edge inscribed in raised letters with various floral stops, .{*IUSTITIA[*] ET*{}[*] CLEMENTIA [*]}. orientated up toward obverse, weight 25.52g (Bull 4030 R7; Spink Numismatic Circular, October 1998). Practically as struck, of the highest rarity, one of only two known pieces, the other in the Royal Mint Museum.

Only two examples are known to exist of this extremely rare trial piece, working towards the production of the Festival of Britain Crown of 1951. As of late 1950 various proposals were being made towards production of a commemorative coin to celebrate the Festival of Britain with the idea being that coins may be struck on site by the Royal Mint. Some proposals were for a Double-Florin of Four Shillings, but by November of 1950 the production of a Crown piece was seen as the more correct way forward. A lettered edge was required to appear on the coinage and there having been no lettered edge Crowns struck at the Mint since the reign of George V some quarter of a century earlier and in silver meant that trials had to be conducted to see how the modern minting machinery would need to perform to strike the lighter cupro-nickel which up to that time had not been attempted before. The Mint looked to their stock to see what they could use to strike a lettered edge coin, the last obverse and reverse struck of Crown dimensions were the 1937 dated Coronation year crowns which were half-silver. The last lettered edge piece struck at the Mint at that time was the small issue of Royal Mint Maria Theresa Thalers of Austrian design struck during World War II. This lettered edge was coupled with the obverse and reverse of 1937 and the tonnage of pressure used on the dies to strike this piece was etched by hand crudely in the obverse field, "120" for this piece here. The other existing piece housed in the Royal Mint Museum interestingly has a different tonnage figure in the field. This cataloguer published the piece offered here in the Spink Numismatic Circular October 1998.