Edward VII, 1901-10

Key Events

1901	Edward VII becomes King on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
1901	Australia is granted dominion status.
1902	Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister.
1902	First trans-Atlantic radio transmission
1902	Edward VII institutes the Order of Merit.
1902	Empire Day is celebrated for the first time.
1902	Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories published.
1903	Wilbur and Orville Wright of the US make the first manned and controlled aircraft flight.
1903	The Women’s Social and Political Union, demanding votes for women, is founded by Emmeline Pankhurst.
1904	Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale, settling outstanding territorial disputes.
1904	Sigmund Freud publishes Psychopathology of Everyday Life.
1904	Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie is published.
1905	Motor buses are first used in London.
1906	Construction of HMS Dreadnought
1907	Edward VII visits his cousin Tzar Nicholas II of Russia
1907	Taxi-cabs are legally recognized in Britain for the first time.
1907	Baden-Powell takes the first ever group of boy scouts on holiday to Brownsea island, Dorset.
1907	Parliament rejects Channel Tunnel scheme.
1907	New Zealand is granted dominion status.
1908	Production of Ford motor cars begins.
1908	Publication of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
1908	The fourth Olympic Games are held in London.
1908	Herbert Henry Asquith becomes Prime Minister.
1908	The Triple Entente is signed between Russia, France, and Britain.
1908	The Children’s Act establishes separate juvenile courts to try children.
1908	Old Age Pensions established in Britain for all over 70 years old with an income of less than ten shillings per week.
1909	The People’s Budget is introduced by Lloyd George
1909	The Women’s Suffrage movement becomes more militant in their fight for votes for women.
1909	Introduction of Labour Exchanges
1909	French airman, Louis Blériot, makes the first cross-Channel flight from Calais to Dover.
1909	First rugby match to be played Twickenham takes place.
1909	First Boy Scout Rally is held at Crystal Palace, London.
1910	Constitutional Crisis is caused by the House of Commons’ attempt to curb the power of the House of Lords.
1910	Edward dies of pneumonia at Buckingham Palace.

Coins

1902 Crown matt proof

S. 3979 Bull 3562 ESC 362

Slabbed and graded LCGS 88 (BU-NFDC )

The finish of these coins was matte, completely different to the usual polished brilliance of earlier sets (and for that matter) later sets. The process to create the matte proofs was developed in the preceding decade in Belgium and was adopted by the Royal Mint to make the 1902 sets. Coin-collecting folklore says that the Royal Mint workers disliked the finish greatly and wiped the coins as they came out of the presses on their leather aprons to give them a more brilliant appearance.