1999 Millennium Silver Proof £5 Coin

1999 Millennium Silver Proof £5 Coin. To commemorate the millenium, the Royal Mint issued two £5 coins; one date 1999, the other 2000. The coins both feature the reverse design of a clock face set at the critical time of 12 o' clock.

These 1999 coins come are struck to a proof finish from 0.925 sterling silver. Each coin contains 0.841 troy ounces of silver and is issued with a certificate of authentictity. The coins come presented in either a blue or red presentation box. 

The 2000 Millennium Crown

With a denomination (face value) of five pounds, the Millennium Crown has been produced by the Royal Mint as a lasting souvenir of the occasion.

The Greenwich Meridian

Greenwich Mean Time is recognised throughout the world as an international time zone system with every day beginning and ending from twelve midnight at Greenwich. Despite its universality, GMT is in fact of fairly recent adoption, influenced by the arrival of the railways.

The development of railway networks enabled people to travel faster than the speed of the sun. With each town adhering to local time the organisation of a timetable proved impossible and a uniform system of keeping time became essential.

By the mid-nineteenth century the majority of clocks on church towers and town halls were set to GMT and towards the end of the century it was given formal authority as British standard time.

Greenwich was also chosen for a worldwide time zone system by the International Meridian Conference, 1884.

The obverse (head), which is dated 1999, bears the fourth major different portrait of the Queen, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley, and introduced in 1998.

Designed by Jeffrey Matthew and modelled by Royal Mint engraver Robert Evans, the reverse of the coin perfectly captures the passage of time from this century into the new millennium.
The focal point of the design bears a representation of the British Isles with a pair of clock hands, pivoted on Greenwich and set at the crucial twelve o'clock position, with the important millennium dates of 1999 and 2000 incorporated either side.

In addition, the traditional beading around the outer edge has been transformed into the minutes and hours of a clock face, further enhancing the essential theme of the design. This is continued by the incuse edge inscription:-

WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE

Taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest and recognising the dawn of the new millennium as an opportunity to look into the future.

For illustrative purposes we have shown a mirror image of the edge inscription, superimposed around the coin. As it is a mirror image, you may notice it does not line up with the edge marks.