The Queen Mother beside a horse: this is how the 2002 Isle of Man crown shows one of the great passions of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The coin belongs to the series «The Life and Times of the Queen Mother», and this piece is the black-finish version of the same type, which stands out at once next to the familiar bright cupro-nickel crown.

The Queen Mother’s love of horses was long-standing and entirely serious. Her enthusiasm for steeplechasing began in 1949, inspired by the amateur jockey Lord Mildmay, and over the following decades horses in her colours won around 500 races. She never placed a bet, yet she had race commentaries piped straight into Clarence House, her London residence.

The most famous story of her stable is one of defeat. In 1956 her Devon Loch, ridden by Dick Francis, was leading the Grand National by five lengths when, 40 yards from the finish, he inexplicably jumped into the air and landed on his stomach; the cause has never been established.

The series followed different milestones of her life: in 2001, for example, crowns appeared for her silver wedding anniversary with George VI and for the birth of Prince Charles. In 2002, the year of this coin, the Queen Mother died, on 30 March at Royal Lodge, Windsor, aged 101. The reverse carries the legends THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE QUEEN MOTHER and LOVE OF HORSES, the obverse Ian Rank-Broadley’s portrait of Elizabeth II; the coin was struck by Pobjoy Mint.

For a collector of the series the black finish is a separate entry alongside the standard version. Condition UNC: the coin has never been in circulation, there is no wear, and only minor storage marks are possible.

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