W032 (see also W053, W054, W055)
Virenium, AU (some surface damage from leaching plastic coin wrap)
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‒ ), British 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 seated Greco wrestler awaiting his next event. In the background are two wrestlers at battle.
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 with only a single wrestler, Calum McNeil (1966– ). He entered as a lightweight in the freestyle event, losing to USA’s Townsend Saunders (1967– ) in Round 1 (0-3, 0-5). Then in Round 2, he lost (0-3, 0-4) to NGA’s Ibo Oziti (1974– ), representing Nigeria.
