Silver Coronation Medal King Faisal II

King Faisal II Coronation Medal, 1953

Issued to commemorate the coronation of King Faisal II ibn Ghazi on 2 May 1953. Faisal had been on the throne under a tightly controlled regency (under the management of Amir Abd Ilah and Nuri al-Said) since his father's death in 1939. Established: 1953. This medal was struck both by the Royal Mint (London, England) and by Huguenin (La Loche, Switzerland).

Obverse: Circular 32 mm medal (patterned after the British medal for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), King Faisal II facing right. Suspended by a ring. The medal was produced both by the Royal Mint in London and the Huguenin Company (Le Locle, Switzerland) with slightly different designs. For example, the legend "HUGUENIN" appears in faint letters underneath the king's head on the Swiss-made variety.

Reverse: Crown with royal cipher of two interlinked Arabic "F"s above; these are much more stylized (almost unrecognizably so) on the Hugelin striking than on the Royal Mint striking. Arabic inscription: "Towija sanah 1372 H. - 1953 M." or "Coronation Year 1372 H. - 1953 M.". The Hugenin striking omits the hyphen in the date.

Awards: The Royal Mint silver medal was struck in 5000 specimens.

Royal Mint variety - silver, small head (16 x 24 mm) and plain rim to obverse - the reverse inscription has a hyphen between the dates.