As we celebrate the year of His Majesty The King’s coronation, we also commemorate the coronation years of Britain’s most iconic monarchs. George V was a respected king who was widely admired for his leadership and support of the troops during the First World War. The George V Coronation Two-Coin Set includes a historic Sovereign and a Half-Sovereign issued in 1911, the year of the king’s coronation. Struck in 22 carat gold, both coins feature the iconic St George and the dragon reverse design by Benedetto Pistrucci and Bertram Mackennal’s portrait of George V on the obverse.

The Unexpected King

Born in 1865 during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George Frederick Ernest Albert was the second son of Prince Albert Edward, later Edward VII, and Alexandra of Denmark. Prince George sought a career in the Royal Navy and served for almost 15 years before his older brother Prince Albert Victor died of influenza in 1892, which meant that Prince George became next in line to the throne. In 1893, he married his late brother’s fiancée, Mary of Teck, and the couple went on to have a long and happy marriage.

When Edward VII died in 1910, George V became king of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India. The Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal was chosen to create the new king’s coinage portrait, which would be the last to appear on circulating British Sovereigns.

The Coronation of George V

On 22 June 1911, George V’s coronation took place at Westminster Abbey and was one of the last events to have a gathering of Europe’s nobility in attendance before the outbreak of the

First World War. On the day of the coronation, celebrations took place throughout the United Kingdom and thousands of people crowded the streets of London to watch the royal procession.

Later, George V recounted in his diary:

‘The service in the Abbey was beautiful and impressive, but it was a terrible ordeal. It was grand, yet simple and most dignified and went without a hitch.’

The coronation marked the beginning of a reign that would cover some of the country’s most  difficult challenges, including one of the deadliest conflicts in British history