Navigate by Category: < Previous Next >
Zoom Obverse
Zoom Reverse
Category: World Coins

BARCELONA XXV OLYMPIAD 1992, RUNNER, GIBRALTAR 1 CROWN, 1991

W053

Virenium, AU

38 mm (1-1/2”), 31.1 grams

HISTORY: Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It was ceded to Great Britain in 1713 by the Dutch, who had taken it in battle from Spain in 1703.

Gibraltar National Mint has been producing coinage since 1990 based on the United Kingdom’s pound (£). This coin, however, was minted at the Pobjoy Mint, Ltd., in the County of Surrey, England (Europe’s largest private mint, and inventors of the semi-precious metal virenium).

OBVERSE: “ELIZABETH II GIBRALTAR 1991” encircles the profile of Elizabeth II (1926‒2022), Queen of the United Kingdom (UK) and all other Commonwealth realms, including Gibraltar subjects. Below her left shoulder are the small letters “PM” (Pobjoy Mint). Immediately above, on the lower bust, are the initials “RDM” (see Detail). The initials are those of Raphael David Maklouf (1937‒ ), sculptor of the Queen Elizabeth II portrait, and used on Pobjoy UK coins from 1985 through 1997.

REVERSE: “XXV OLYMPIAD – BARCELONA” and “1 CROWN” frame a runner in the foreground facing left, while two additional runners, facing right, race in the background.

The Games of the XXV Olympiad were held from July 25 through August 9, 1992, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The British Olympic Association fielded 371 athletes for this Olympiad, including the formidable Linsford Christie (1960‒ ) “OBE” (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Christie already was a gold medalist from previous Olympic Games, and the first European to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metre race. Before his retirement from athletics, he had won 24 medals overall, the most in Britain ever. For this XXV Olympiad, Christie took home a gold medal in the 100 metres with a mind-numbing time of 9.96 seconds!

Zoom
Track & Field Pictogram for XXV
Zoom
Detail of initials RDM and PM