Crown (coin)
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The crown, originally known as the "crown of the double rose", was a British coin introduced as part of King Henry VIII's monetary reform of 1526. The first coins were minted in gold, and the first silver crowns were not produced until the reign of King Edward VI. Although many people believe that all crowns were minted in silver, until the time of the Commonwealth it was common for crowns to be minted in gold in some quantity. No crowns were minted in the reign of Philip and Mary, but silver as well as gold coins were minted in the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I. Crowns were minted in all reigns between Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II, the last being produced in 1981 — coins of the same size are still produced, but have a face value of Five Pounds. The crown was worth 5 shillings, or 60 pre-decimal pence, and was also the basis of other denominations such as the half-crown and double crown.
Some Commonwealth countries still issue crown-sized coins; for example, the New Zealand fifty-cent piece, which is a decimalised version of the New Zealand 5 shilling piece. Australia's crown-sized fifty-cent piece was previously round but now is now a regular dodecagon in shape.
Numismatically, the term "crown-sized" is used generically to describe large silver or cupro-nickel coins of about 40 mm in diameter.