2004 PLATINUM GREAT BRITAIN 5 POUND 3 OZ NGC PROOF 67 PIEDFORT ONLY 501 MINTED

 3 OUNCE PLATINUM 5 POUNDS PIEDFORT (DOUBLE THICK) ISSUE

CELEBRATING THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENTENTE CORDIALE IN 1904 BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE

CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 67

OBV: PORTRAIT BUST OF ELIZABETH II WEARING TIARA RIGHT (MATTE BACKGROUND); DENOMINATION BENEATH.

REV: 3/4 FACING BRITANNIA IN HELMET , CLOAKED AND HOLDING TRIDENT ABOVE CONJOINED WITH MARRIANNE (MATTE BACKGROUND).

REVERSE DESIGN BY DAVID GENTLEMAN

THE ENTENTE CORDIALE WAS A SERIES OF AGREEMENTS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE FRENCH THIRD REPUBLIC, AND WAS SIGNED ON APRIL 8, 1904. THE PHRASE, MEANING "A CORDIAL UNDERSTANDING", WAS FIRST MENTIONED REGARDING DESIRED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES IN A LETTER WRITTEN BY THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY IN 1843. THE AGREEMENT SETTLED MANY LONG STANDING ISSUES AND DISPUTES, INCLUDING FISHING RIGHTS IN NEW FOUNDLAND, THE RECOGNITION OF BRITAIN'S CONTROL OVER EGYPT AND FRANCE'S DOMINATION OF MORROCCO, AS WELL AS OTHER SPHERES OF INFLUENCE AND COLONIAL EXPANSION. IT ALSO MARKED THE FORMAL END TO OVER A THOUSAND YEARS OF ENMITY WHICH WAS BROUGHT TO AN END AT THE CLOSE OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, AND BEGAN AN ERA OF PEACEFUL COEXISTANCE. ALONG WITH THE ENTENTE CORDIALE, THE FRENCH-RUSSIAN ENTENTE OF 1872 AND THE THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN ENTENTE OF 1907 WOULD LEAD TO THE TRIPLE ENTENTE OF ALLIANCES COUNTERING GERMANY AND HER ALLIES, A POWDERKEG OF OPPOSING FORCES THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY IGNITE THE FIRST WORLD WAR. THE AGREEMENT CONTINUES TO REMAIN AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DIPLOMACY OF BOTH NATIONS.

THE NAME BRITANNIA CAME TO SYMBOLIZE THE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE 1st CENTURY BC. THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF THE PROVINCE OF THE SAME NAME BEGAN IN 43 BC.  BRITANNIA, THE ALLEGORICAL SYMBOL OF THE PROVINCE, WAS PERSONIFIED AS A GODDESS, ARMED WITH TRIDENT, SHIELD AND CORINTHIAN HELMET. BRITANNIA HAS COME TO SYMBOLIZE BRITISH NATIONAL IDENTITY, AND AFTER THE KINGDOMS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND WERE UNITED IN 1707, THE MARTIAL FEMALE FIGURE CAME TO DEPICT NOT ONLY UNITY, BUT IMPERIAL POWER. ON COINAGE, THE FIRST USE OF BRITANNIA WAS BY THE ROMANS UNDER HADRIAN, BUT BRITISH COINAGE HAS OFTEN FEATURED BRITANNIA SINCE THE 17th CENTURY.

THE DEPICTION OF MARIANNE ON THE OBVERSE, IS THE ALLEGORICAL PERSONIFICATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF LIBERTY AND REASON, AND IS THE UNOFFICIAL BUT COMMON AND TRADITIONAL NATIONAL SYMBOL OF FRANCE. SHE SYMBOLIZES THE REPUBLIC AND THE "TRIUMPH OF THE REPUBLIC", AND OFTEN FIGURES PROMINENTLY ON FRENCH COINAGE INCLUDING PRESENT DAY EURO ISSUES. AT THE TIME OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, A FEMALE ALEEGORY WAS CHOSEN TO PERSONIFY THE REPUBLIC, AND WAS SEEN AS A BREAK WITH THE ANCIEN RÉGIME OF THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE WHOSE ALLEGORIES AND REPRESENTATIONS WERE MASCULINE IN PORTRAYAL. THE FRENCH LANGUAGE NOUNS FOR FRANCE, REPUBLIC AND LIBERTY ARE FEMININE IN GENDER AS WELL.

CONTAINS 94.2 GRAMS OF .9995 PURE PLATINUM (3.0203 OZS APW)

PIEDFORT CROWN PROOF - DOUBLE WEIGHT AND THICKNESS

100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENTENTE CORDIALE

38.61 MM IN DIAMETER

ONLY 501 MINTED!

ROYAL MINT