The (In)Famous Winston Churchill Crown

Dentuck · May 16, 2006 11:36AM

The (In)Famous Winston Churchill Crown

Say what you will about the 1965 Churchill crown of Great Britain -- with its unorthodox depiction of
the famous WWII prime minister -- this is the most unique of commemoratives minted to honor the
great man.

Slightly more than nine and a half million of the crowns were struck following Churchill's death, and
the issue remains one of the most popular of big British coins. We can only assume this is because of
the wartime leader's legendary status, and not because of the design, which shows him in low relief
wearing a siren suit. I remember reading once that it looked as if the Prime Minister were swimming
out of a sea of clay (I forget where I read that, but it stuck with me!). If you lived through the war in
England, you remember the "siren suit" as a jumpsuit Mum or Da would quickly zip you into when
the air raid sirens started sounding. It was a quick way to cover pajamas and/or get you into the air
raid shelter without mussing up your day clothes.

As an aside, I love this account by writer Paul Merton, who contributed it to the Manchester Jewish
Museum, telling of his days in Salford during the war:

"On our return to I remember having to go to the air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden in the
middle of the night. It was always very cold in the shelter especially in winter. So I used to wear a
siren suit. Winston Churchill started the fashion for siren suits. The suits were like large baby grows
made from a heavy material and it kept you warm in the cold shelters. I would leap out of bed at the
sound of a siren and jump into my suit and hurry to the shelter. In the shelter we had a record player
which had to be wound up by hand. We used to play records. I clearly remember the records by
Flanagan & Allen entitled 'Umbrella Man' and 'Underneath the Arches'. The air raid shelter was
basically a square hole in the ground covered by corrugated iron sheets. We all had gas masks in
little cardboard boxes with a piece of string so that you could carry it over your shoulders. The boxes
weren't very strong and my mum made better ones out of bits of cloth. My Uncle Philip has always
had a loft of racing pigeons and during the war he bred carrier pigeons for the Army and the R.A.F."

Back to the coin -- the obverse has Mary Gillick's portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II. With its
portrait of Churchill on the back, this was the first time in history that a commoner was depicted on a
British coin of the realm.

Sir Winston Churchill, most famous for serving as Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII, was
also an author, historian, painter, Francophile, a horse owner with dozens of brood mares and racers,
Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG), 1953, Privy Councillor (PC), 1907, holder of the Order of
Merit (OM), 1946, Companion of Honour (CH), 1922, and Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), 1941,
a smoker of Havana cigars, a horseman into his 70s and a swimmer into his 80s, Nobel Prize winner
for Literature ... a truly remarkable man.

This is an odd but endearing coin that belongs in every world coin collection. Say what you will -- I
like it!

-- Dentuck

ajaan · May 16, 2006 12:00PM

<< Say what you will -- I >>

WOW! That took guts.

I'm still looking for a MS67 cetrified example.

Dentuck · May 16, 2006 12:14PM

For years I carried a Churchill crown as a good-luck piece.

Instead of "Heads or Tails?" it was "Winnie or Liz?"

Cladiator · May 16, 2006 3:46PM

It really looks as if old Winston was caught in the middle of trying to squeeze one out.

1jester · May 16, 2006 5:52PM

A commoner on a coin!!

The very idea!!!

PS: I wonder what mine would grade... I think I'll send it one day just for kicks.

IlikeZARcoins · May 16, 2006 6:31PM

Francophile

Wow - he must have been a numismatist, collecting Francs.

I think most collectors in Europe would have such a coin laying around the house.

Personally I have about 3 of them.

Tyrock · May 17, 2006 1:10PM

Interesting post. I've got one that my mother brought back from England when she was on vacation there.

Dentuck · May 17, 2006 10:55PM

Bill Fivaz gives out Eisenhower dollars as tips when he goes out to eat. I would love to carry around some Churchill crowns for the same purpose! From time to time you'll see a lot of 50 or 100 up for bid on eBay, but they're usually in Great Britain, and the shipping costs to the U.S. are prohibitive.

danglen · May 17, 2006 11:15PM

<< Slightly more than nine and a half million of the crowns were struck >>

Seems to me I have seen over ten million of these in my store, so they must be popular with counterfeiters

Steve27 · May 18, 2006 3:01AM

I recently purchased my first one (it was in the 3 for a dollar bin).

Dentuck · February 1, 2012 11:00PM

Seems like it's been a while since a "Churchill crown" post popped up.

Littleton Coin Company's recent purchase of a hoard of 220,000 Eisenhower
dollars got me wondering --- are there any massive accumulations of
these hefty crowns out there, somewhere?

lordmarcovan · February 1, 2012 11:12PM

<< I recently purchased my first one (it was in the 3 for a dollar bin). >>

Steve- that almost qualifies for a tiny "you suck". Almost.

Not a bad cherrypick, at any rate. I too have gotten one (an AU) in a bulk lot, though I cannot remember if it was for 33 cents or not. Something like that, probably.

I've never really hated them, though it's fun to poke fun at 'em, and at ajaan in general.

lordmarcovan · February 1, 2012 11:13PM

<< Littleton Coin Company's recent purchase of a hoard of 220,000 Eisenhower dollars got me wondering --- are there any massive accumulations of these hefty crowns out there, somewhere? >>

Dunno what you mean by "massive" (by definition, even a bag or two of these could be physically massive, considering their size), but I seem to recall somebody posting about a bag of them here on the forums, a few years back...?

Dentuck · February 1, 2012 11:24PM

<< Dunno what you mean by "massive" . . . . >>

Good point! LOL. A mere pocket full of these badboys would make it impossible to swim the English Channel.

I'm thinking tens or hundreds of thousands.

WillieBoyd2 · February 1, 2012 11:37PM

There are British coins with Oliver Cromwell on them, who was a "commoner".

Weiss · February 2, 2012 12:41AM

Didn't NEN offer a PF60-something a few years back?

And I seem to recall a few board members trying to find the pop top.

I actually like them. They are what they are, and I don't understand why they get razzed so much.

ajaan · February 2, 2012 12:58AM

<< I don't understand why they get razzed so much >>

Only by the uninformed.

Stork · February 2, 2012 2:21AM

The Churchill Crown

I think I posted this before...but it turns out you REALLY can buy anything on Amazon!

Cathy

OldEastside · February 2, 2012 3:06AM

I have two or three of them somewhere,
I recall one has a really cool tone to it, But
I'll have to find it, hav'nt seen it in twenty
years.

Steve

wybrit · February 2, 2012 1:32PM

I, too, respect the man and what he did.

But the coin still stinks.

PULL!!

7Jaguars · February 2, 2012 10:37PM

Aw, I like the specimen version.
I mean he's not Marilyn Monroe but I think the coin shows his dignity, toughness and tenacity (well he was rather like a bulldog).

TwoKopeiki · February 2, 2012 11:24PM

I picked up this gorgeous coin art in 2007 and then had PCGS slab it as MS64. Shortly thereafter my precious was taken from me into a hole.... Not a tidy, clean, dry hole, filled with fine furnishings, nor a warm cozy hole with soft chairs to sit down on: it was an Ajaan hole, and that means filth..

WillieBoyd2 · February 4, 2012 1:00AM

Has anyone ever seen a Chinese counterfeit of a Churchill crown?

TwoKopeiki · February 4, 2012 4:01AM

<< Has anyone ever seen a Chinese counterfeit of a Churchill crown?

>>

They gave-up trying to counterfeit it. Their copies all turned-out better than the originals

Swampboy · February 4, 2012 4:48AM

<< 

<< Has anyone ever seen a Chinese counterfeit of a Churchill crown?

>>

They gave-up trying to counterfeit it. Their copies all turned-out better than the originals

>>

Call me crazy, but I do like mine for the design and I really love the one you posted Roman.

ProofArtworkonCircs · February 4, 2012 12:56PM

A close companion of Churchill during the war said " Winston has 10 ideas a day. One of them is a good one. Nobody, including Winnie, knows which one it is."

Weiss · February 5, 2012 12:30AM

Would they be better loved if they'd been struck in sterling? Or .500?

Were there any struck in silver? That would be pretty cool.

jmski52 · February 5, 2012 11:25PM

They should'a made them in silver. But they didn't.

melvin289 · February 6, 2012 1:07PM

I purchased the PCGS Winnie from "Himself," Lord M. The raw one I just won on eBay over the weekend. I have another raw one somewhere or the other which I'll have to find. Personally I love the coin. It's a beautiful coin and love the picture of Churchill.

Ron

Zohar · February 6, 2012 2:05PM

This man along with FDR saved the world !

melvin289 · February 6, 2012 7:38PM

<< 

<< Say what you will -- I >>

WOW! That took guts.

I'm still looking for a MS67 cetrified example. >>

Ajaan - with a total PCGS population of 42 and none graded higher than MS-65, good luck my friend. I have one in 64 and looking for a 65 but I don't know if it will ever happen unless I make it myself. The total pop in 65 is 14 coins graded.

Ron

YQQ · February 8, 2012 5:19AM

here are 3 medals,
one is the above SWC...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/320845186315?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

tacynnep · February 8, 2012 11:10AM

This is one of my favourite big coin......

The (In)Famous Winston Churchill Crown

Comments