BY THE QUEEN
A PROCLAMATION
DETERMINING THE SPECIFICATIONS AND DESIGN FOR FIVE-POUND COINS COMMEMORATING THE FIVE-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACCESSION OF KING HENRY VIII
ELIZABETH R.
Whereas under section 3(1)(a), (b), (cc), (d) and (dd) of the Coinage Act 1971 We have power, with the advice of Our Privy Council, by Proclamation to determine the denomination, the design and dimensions of coins to be made at Our Mint, to determine the weight and composition of coins other than gold coins or coins of silver of Our Maundy money and the remedy to be allowed in making such coins and to determine the percentage of impurities which such coins may contain:
And Whereas under section 3(1)(f) and (ff) of the Coinage Act 1971 We have power, with the advice of Our Privy Council, by Proclamation to direct that coins made at Our Mint other than gold, silver, cupro-nickel and bronze coins shall be current and that any coin shall be legal tender for the payment of any amount:
And Whereas under section 6(2) of the Coinage Act 1971 We have power, with the advice of Our Privy Council, by Proclamation to prescribe the composition of the standard trial plates to be used for determining the justness of coins of any metal other than gold, silver or cupro-nickel:
And Whereas it appears to Us desirable to order that, to commemorate the five-hundredth anniversary of the accession of King Henry VIII, there should be made at Our Mint coins of the denomination of five pounds in platinum, in gold, in silver and in cupro-nickel:
We, therefore, in pursuance of the said section 3(1)(a), (b), (cc), (d), (dd), (f) and (ff), the said section 6(2), and of all other powers enabling Us in that behalf, do hereby, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, proclaim, direct and ordain as follows:
PLATINUM PIEDFORT COIN
1. (1) A new coin of platinum of the denomination of five pounds shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 94.2 grammes, a standard diameter of 38.608 millimetres, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said platinum coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight or diameter specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin (measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogramme of the coin) of 0.8 grammes; and
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter of 0.125 millimetres per coin.
(3) The said platinum coin may contain impurities of three-tenths of one per centum.
(4) The said platinum coin shall be current and shall be legal tender for payment of any amount in any part of Our United Kingdom.
(5) The composition of the standard trial plates to be used for determining the justness of the said platinum coin shall be pure platinum.
GOLD COIN
2. (1) A new coin of gold of the denomination of five pounds shall be made, being a coin of a standard diameter of 38.608 millimetres, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said gold coin a variation from the said standard diameter of not more than 0.125 millimetres per coin shall be allowed.
SILVER COIN
3. (1) A new coin of silver of the denomination of five pounds shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 28.276 grammes, a standard diameter of 38.608 millimetres, a standard composition of 925 parts per thousand fine silver, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said silver coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight, diameter or composition specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin (measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogramme of the coin) of 0.13 grammes;
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter of 0.125 millimetres per coin; and
(c) a variation from the said standard composition of five parts per thousand fine silver.
(3) The said silver coin shall be legal tender for the payment of any amount in any part of Our United Kingdom.
SILVER PIEDFORT COIN
4. (1) A new coin of silver of the denomination of five pounds shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 56.552 grammes, a standard diameter of 38.608 millimetres, a standard composition of 925 parts per thousand fine silver, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said silver coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight, diameter or composition specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin (measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogramme of the coin) of 0.215 grammes;
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter of 0.125 millimetres per coin; and
(c) a variation from the said standard composition of five parts per thousand fine silver.
(3) The said silver coin shall be legal tender for the payment of any amount in any part of Our United Kingdom.
CUPRO-NICKEL COIN
5. (1) A new coin of cupro-nickel of the denomination of five pounds shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 28.276 grammes, a standard diameter of 38.608 millimetres, a standard composition of seventy-five per centum copper and twenty-five per centum nickel, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said cupro-nickel coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight, diameter or composition specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin (measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogramme of the coin) of 0.13 grammes;
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter of 0.125 millimetres per coin; and
(c) a variation from the said standard composition of two per centum copper and two per centum nickel.
(3) The said cupro-nickel coin may contain impurities of three-quarters of one per centum.
(4) The said cupro-nickel coin shall be legal tender for the payment of any amount in any part of Our United Kingdom.
DESIGN OF THE COINS
6. The design of the said coins shall be as follows:
‘For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “ELIZABETH · II · D · G REG · F · D · ” and the date “2009”, and for the reverse a design inspired by a Holbein painting of King Henry VIII, set within a tressure and surrounded by the inscription “· THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII 1509 ·” and the denomination “FIVE POUNDS”. The platinum, gold and silver coins will have a plain edge and in incuse letters the inscription “ROSA SINE SPINA · ”, while the cupro-nickel coin will have a graining upon the edge’.
7. This Proclamation shall come into force on the tenth day of October Two thousand and eight.
Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this ninth day of October in the year of our Lord Two thousand and eight and in the fifty-seventh year of Our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN