Elizabeth II, 1952-

Key Events

1952	Elizabeth accedes to the throne on the death of her father, George VI.
1952	World’s first jet airliner passenger service inaugurated by BOAC in Comet I aircraft
1953	Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest just before Coronation Day
1953	Francis Crick and James Watson unravel the mystery of DNA
1953	– 1954 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip embark on a 6 month world tour including Australia and New Zealand
1955	Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Anthony Eden.
1955	Laws restricting the burning of coal and establishing smokeless zones bring an end to London’s notorious fogs
1956	Anglo-French forces invade Egypt after the nationalization of the Suez Canal.
1957	Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1957	The Gold Coast becomes independent as Ghana, the first British colony in Africa to receive its independence.
1957	Queen Elizabeth addresses the United Nations and opens the 23rd Canadian Parliament
1959	Oil is discovered in the North Sea.
1959	Queen Elizabeth tours Canada and the United States
1960	Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister makes ‘winds of change’ speech in South Africa.
1960	Union of South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth.
1962	Jamaica gains independence
1963	Alec Douglas-Hume replaces Harold Macmillan as the Prime Minister.
1963	The Beatles release their first LP.
1964	Labour government of Harold Wilson takes office
1966	Aberfan disaster leaves 116 children dead
1967	Capital punishment abolished in the UK for murder, and one year later for all crimes
1969	Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales.
1969	Troubles break out in the North of Ireland
1970	Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.
1971	Decimal currency is introduced.
1973	Britain joins the European Community.
1974	Miners strike brings down Heath Government. Harold Wilson returns as Prime Minister.
1976	Concorde begins first supersonic trans-Atlantic flights
1977	Celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Queens accession
1978	The world’s first test-tube baby is delivered in Oldham, Greater Manchester
1979	Margaret Thatcher succeeds James Callaghan, becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.
1981	Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1982	Unemployment in Britain tops three million.
1982	Britain goes to war with Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands
1982	Pope John Paul II is first reigning pope to visit the UK.
1984	Miners strike again but is defeated by Thatcher.
1986	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60th birthday.
1988	PanAm flight 103 bombed and crashes on Lockerbie killing 270
1989	Poll tax is introduced amid widespread protest.
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the ‘Cold War’.
1990	Margaret Thatcher resigns as Prime Minister after 11 years and is succeeded by John Major.
1991	The Allied forces liberate Kuwait during the Gulf War.
1992	Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorce. Windsor castle suffers severe fire damage.
1993	European Parliament comes into force
1994	Opening of the Channel Tunnel between England and France
1996	Both the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of York divorce.
1997	Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister and ends 18 years of Conservative government.
1997	Hong Kong reverts to China after 155 years of British rule.
1997	Diana Princess of Wales dies in Paris car crash
1998	Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland
1998	Scotland and Wales vote for their own Assemblies
1999	Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones.
2000	Queen Mother celebrates her 100th birthday.
2001	Twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed by Islamic terrorists.
2001	– 2014. Fourth Afghan War. British and Allied troops in Afghanistan.
2002	Queen Elizabeth II marks her Golden Jubilee of 50 years of rule. Deaths of Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
2003	British and US forces invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein
2005	Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and she is given the title Duchess of Cornwall
2006	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.
2007	Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister
2007	Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip celebrate 60 years of marriage
2007	Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever reigning British monarch
2008	World wide banking crisis. Government has to bail out two major British banks
2009	Parliamentary integrity damaged by expenses scandal
2010	David Cameron becomes Prime Minister
2011	Prince William marries Catherine Middleton. They become Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
2012	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years since her accession to the throne.
2012	Queen opens the London 2012 Olympic Games
2013	Birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
2014	Scottish voters reject proposal by the Scottish National Party to leave the United Kingdom
2014	End of 4th Afghan war. British forces leave Afghanistan.
2015	Birth of Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Coins

1954 Halfcrown S. 4145 ESC 4353 (798I)

1954 Farthing slabbed and graded CGS 85

1958 Halfcrown S. 4145 ESC 4366 (798M)

1959 Halfcrown S. 4145 ESC 4369 (798N) slabbed and graded CGS 82 (Choice UNC)

1959 Florin S. 4146 ESC 4412 (968M) slabbed and graded CGS 78 (UNC)

1959 English Shilling S. 4147 ESC 4466 (1475Y)

1959 Scottish Shilling S. 4148 ESC 4502 (1475Z) Rated as ‘R’ (rare) in ESC

1960 Crown polished dies (New York British Trade Exposition issue)

S. 4143 ESC 4337 (393L) rated as ‘S’ (scarce) in ESC

Only 70,000 of these were minted, for export to the British Trade Fair in New York. At the close of the Exhibition, unsold pieces were removed from the plastic cases that they arrived in, and shipped home in bags.
That treatment makes perfect Polished Die specimens very hard to come by.
Diam: 39mm Weight: 28.3g
Copper 75% Nickel 25% (check this, Bull states fine silver)