04 September 2023
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An overweight Isle of Man crown attracts the attention of Michael Burzan in his regular guide to numismatic treasures.
A somewhat mysterious coin appeared in Germany recently. It was the beautiful Isle of Man crown from 2003, called ‘Trimetallic’, based on a 925 silver blackened outside, with a silver centre and gold-plated ring.
Engraver Ian Rank-Broadley designed the reverse, with the Royal Crown at the centre and decorated by British heraldic flowers in the golden ring. The blackish frame includes the crowned lion at left and the unicorn on the right, with a commemorative inscription of her late majesty’s coronation anniversary ‘QUEEN ELIZABETH II GOLDEN CORONATION JUBILEE 1953–2003’ and face value ‘ONE CROWN’ on the outer ring. The small mintage of the edition was 2003, representing the year of issue.
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What was surprising of this example at Teutoburger Münzauktion was the weight of 34.53g.
Normal mintings of the coin should weight only 28.35g, with a diameter of 38.61mm and thickness of 3.15mm.
The description suspected that it was probably a minting error or a specimen but very rare. A printout of the minting data from Numista was included in the description. In comparison, the example had extra-fine detail in the embossing, which may have been lost in later stages of production.
Bidders in the auction did not seem very impressed, and the item changed hands below estimation at €180. Perhaps this was an underestimated treasure?
It may be interesting to know if collectors have found similar examples of this issue with the incorrect weight.
