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Australia Royal Wedding

1989 Silver Proof Fifty Cent reverse 1989 Silver Proof Fifty Cent obverse

1989 Silver Proof Fifty Cent

Mintage:24,999
Reverse Designer:Stuart Devlin Obverse Designer:Raphael Maklouf Size:32mm Weight:15.55g Edge:Plain Composition:92.5% Silver
7.5% Copper

Values

Sales History

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In July 1981 the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana were married in a typically royal wedding, triggering the issue of a commemorative 50 cent coin into circulation by the Royal Australian Mint. In 1989 the RAM released a Masterpieces in Silver collection, in which replicas of previous commemorative coins were struck to proof finish in sterling silver. The results were beautiful; the sets that are released annually are always popular amongst collectors and this one was no exception. Other coins that made up the five piece collection included those honouring the Queens Silver Jubilee and Captain Cook.

On the 29th July 1981 the majority of the United Kingdom and many counties throughout the world stopped what they were doing and watched what had been billed as the wedding of the century. A global television audience of 750 millions people sat down to watch the fairy-tale wedding take place between Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. In Britain the day was made a national holiday in celebration of the uniting of the popular couple. (Wikipedia, 2013) Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer had known each other for a number of years and when Charles reaching his 30's began to revive pressure to marriage, his interests focused on making Diana his bride. The couple began dating and Lady Diana was taken to Balmoral where she was well-liked by the Queen, Prince Phillip and The Queen Mother. Six months into their relationship Charles proposed and although she accepted immediately, the engagement was not announced for a further few weeks. The ring that Lady Diana chose to mark her engagement was soon replicated at varying degrees of quality all around the world. Their engagement was made official on 24th February 1981 and the ring is said to have cost £30,000.

The wedding as you would expect of one described as a fairy-tale wedding was sumptuous and took place St Paul's Cathedral. The streets were lined with two million spectators hoping to get a glimpse of the soon-to-be princess. Lady Diana was given away by her father and wore a gown with a 25 metro train. There were a number of royal guests and high profile attendees at the wedding as you would expect including most of the British Royal Family as well as royals from countries including Greece and Denmark, Japan, Nepal, Monaco, Luxembourg, Sweden and Thailand. After the ceremony the couple headed to their reception at Buckingham Palace where dinner was put on for 120 close family and friends. The majority of their honeymoon was spend on board the Royal Yacht Britannia on a cruise of the Mediterranean. They also spent time in Scotland at Balmoral Castle with the rest of the family. After more than a decade of marriage the couple separated in 1992 and were finally divorced in 1996.

The 1989 Masterpieces in Silver collection housed the five silver proof coins in a plush black presentation case. MASTERPIECES IN SILVER was written on the outside of the box with a stamp from the Royal Australian Mint on the inside of the lid. Also included was a certificate of authenticity. The reverse of this silver proof coin is a direct replica of Stuart Devlin's design for the Royal Wedding commemorative coin. It features the portraits of the newlyweds, side by side and both looking in front of them. This central image makes a circular shape and surrounding that is the legend H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES AND LADY DIANA SPENCER : FIFTY CENTS. The obverse was updated to feature the current portrait of that time as designed by Raphael Maklouf and the surrounding legend reads ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1989.

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