1839 Victoria Empress UNA and The Lion £5 Commemorative Huge Silver Finish Antique Restrike Medal / Token Coin.
Diameter :40mm, Weight :1Oz, Thickness: 2mm .
Superb Portrait of the Queen Victoria Empress.
Great Commemorative Collectible Depicting the symbol of Power .
Metal Core : Brass
Mint : DMPL*(Deep Mirror Proof Like).
Grade : BU*(Brilliant Uncirculated).
The Una and the
Lion was a British £5 Gold coin depicting Queen Victoria. It is
recognized as one of the most beautiful British and valued coins ever
struck.It was designed by William Wyon in 1839, to commemorate the
beginning of Queen Victoria's reign (in 1837). The coins were probably
intended for collector sets rather than for circulation. The production
ran to a few hundred coins including a number of variations such as
different metals, different hairbands on the depiction of the queen,
different edge types, and a variation in the reverse inscription.The
obverse of the coin shows Victoria's head, and the Latin phrase
"VICTORIA D G BRITANNIARUM REGINA F D – "Victoria by the Grace of God,
Queen of the British Territories, Defender of the Faith" - is inscribed
around the head.The reverse of the coin is a depiction of Queen Victoria
walking to the left of a lion. The Latin phrase DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS
MEOS – "May God direct my steps". There is also a variant of the
inscription with DIRIGIT instead of DIRIGE.The depiction of the young
Queen as Lady Una (a character from Edmund Spenser's poem The Faerie
Queene, from 1590) was seen at the time as a bold design decision as it
was the first occasion when a British monarch had been depicted on a
coin as a fictional character. Queen Victoria, as Una, is depicted
holding a sceptre while the lion, Lady Una's guardian, represents
England.Underneath the lion are the Roman Numerals "MDCCCXXXIX" (1839).