Before 2000 no member of the British royal family had ever reached the age of one hundred; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was the first, and Ascension Island marked her centenary with this crown-sized 50 pence.

The reverse carries David Cornell’s portrait of the Queen Mother with the legend «QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER · 1900-2000». The obverse shows the crowned portrait of her daughter, Elizabeth II, by Raphael Maklouf, inscribed «QUEEN ELIZABETH II · ASCENSION ISLAND · 50 PENCE»: two queens on a single coin.

Born on 4 August 1900, the Queen Mother refused to leave London even during the wartime bombing. Her centenary was also marked by coins of Ascension’s partners in the same British territory, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha. Alongside the cupronickel version, a silver proof of 10,000 pieces and a gold edition of only 100 were struck.

Ascension is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic, settled by the British in 1815 while Napoleon was held on neighbouring St Helena; it has never had an indigenous population. Its own coins are issued as commemoratives and do not circulate, which makes each one a rare voice of this tiny territory in a collection.

UNC condition: the coin has never circulated, the relief is free of wear and the original mint lustre is intact. A fine piece for a royal family theme and for a collection of British overseas territories.

The VPcoins catalogue features coins from many countries, making it easy to build a collection by geography or by subject.