The Royal Mint in May 1965 authorized the issuance of a sterlingcurrency series in 16 denominations. One of which was the"British Crown" coin in honor of Sir Winston Churchill who diedon January 24, 1965.

Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II in profile, year of issue 1965 and Latinphrase "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F.D. (fideidefensor)".In the translation, the phrase proclaims: "Elizabeth II by the graceof God, queen and defender of the faith".

Reverse: Portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. Taken from the bronzestatue by his favorite sculptor, Oscar Nemon.

The youthful portrait of Her Majesty without crown, was made in1952 by engraver Mary Gaskell Gillick, this was selected amongseventeen proposals, is the first portrait that marked the coinsof the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Sir Winston Churchill was considered the greatest prime ministerin British history. He is recognized: as a statesman, for leadinghis country through the tumultuous Second World War; as anarmy officer, and was prime minister of the United Kingdomtwice, rebuilding the United Kingdom in the post war period. After his political career, he was a writer and an eloquent speaker,nicknamed "The Bulldog" by the British press.

He was a member of the British aristocracy. For the Spencerbranch he was related to the Dukes of Marlborough, born in 1874at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and baptized Winston LeonardSpencer Churchill. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was alsoa politician and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and hismother was Jennie Jerome, an American socialite.

He was awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature and was thefirst person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States ofAmerica.

In early September 1965, Sir Winston's widow, Lady Spencer Churchill, visited the London Mint in Tower Hill, to witness theminting of the first coin in tribute to her husband, without imaginingthat it would start a very high coinage.

In July 1966 the coinage was completed with a record of19'640,000( pieces, this was three times more than the 1953coinage celebrating the coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II.The coinage was very high due to the high demand that it had inthe United States for having been an allied country in the SecondWorld War, in addition Winston Churchill's mother was born in theUnited States of America.

This currency was not included in the demonetization legislationwhen decimalization was introduced in 1971. Royal Mint hasconfirmed that the currency is still legal tender, having beenremonetized with a value of 25 pence.

It is the first British coin to feature someone who is not a memberof Her Majesty Elizabeth II's family.

It is basically the first coinage since 1902 of a "British crown",which does not have a face value, showing itself as an unusualcoin called "medal currency".

To read the complete article, see:
The CrownA CLOSEUP LOOK AT THE FAMOUS CHURCHILL COMMEMORATIVE(https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-150-dec-2020/the-crown/)
A MEDAL CURRENCY(https://1d4vws37vmp124vlehygoxxd-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/A-MEDAL-CURRENCY-Winston-Churchill-Jonathan-Moscoso.pdf)