In 2000, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's 100th Birthday, the Royal Mint released a very Limited Issue Queen Mother Piedfort £5 Five Pound Silver Proof Coin struck in solid .925 Sterling Silver.
For his superb portrait of the Queen Mother, Ian Rank Broadley worked from photographs which the Queen Mother graciously allowed to be taken for this very special purpose. To symbolise The Queen Mothers century, he has included cheering crowds in the background, those in Victorian dress rejoicing at her birth and those in modern dress celebrating her hundredth year. Below the portrait appears a representation of her signature. The obverse is the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank Broadley FRBS, FSNAD.
These legal tender coins have been struck to proof quality using specially prepared dies and highly polished blanks.
Piedforts are coins which have been specially struck on thicker than normal blanks. As their name suggests they are closely associated with France, where from the twelfth century they were apparently issued by the Kings as presentation pieces. In Britain the practise of striking piedforts is later and less frequent, but medieval and Tudor examples are known.
Limited Mintage 14,850 Coins Worldwide
Piedfort Double the Thickness and Weight of its Standard Counterpart
Finished to Royal Mint's Proof Quality in Solid .925 Sterling Silver
Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
