The Organizing Committee of Coin Constellation – 2018

5 pounds

28,28

38,61

Silver 925°

5000

Proof

Jody Clark (obverse), Stephen Taylor (reverse)

The Royal Mint

The obverse side includes the definitive fifth effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II as designed by Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark and used on all circulation, collector, and commemorative U.K. coins since 2015

The coin is designed by Stephen Taylor, part of the Royal Mint’s graphic design team, whose reverse side is inspired by the renowned poem “In Flanders Fields.” The poppy is synonymous with remembrance just after the outbreak of the war and the traditions that surround it, making it the main focal point. The inscription, which is in itself integrated as part of the design, reads SILENCE SPEAKS WHEN WORDS CAN NOT and is placed above the bouquet of poppies which are highlighted with a vivid colour application.

Remembrance Day is the day of the signing of the Armistice of Compiиgne (November 11, 1918), which put an end to the First World War. Every year on November 11 in the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations people wear boutonniere in the form of red poppies. At present, they have become a symbol of the memory not only of the victims of the First World War, but also of other conflicts.

John McCrae, the lieutenant colonel of the Canadian army and the field surgeon, wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields”. It was created on May 2, 1915 – that day the author buried his friend, lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. His grave was in the middle of a field dotted with red poppy flowers, not far fr om the hospital wh ere McCrae worked. The first publication of the poem took place on December 8, 1915 in the London magazine Punch.