Silver Jubilee medal of 1935

The Silver Jubilee of King George V, in 1935, was marked by the Royal Mint through the production of both a crown piece and a Jubilee medal, depicted here. Both crown piece and medal were designed by Percy Metcalfe, whose influence on numismatic design is evident throughout the period and whose design was felt by some to be controversially avant garde. The medal depicts a very formal conjoint portrait of the King and Queen on the obverse, complemented by a beautifully-observed view of Windsor Castle on the reverse.

So popular was the medal that its issue extended overseas, with specimens of it being produced in South Africa and India. The different versions can be distinguished from one another through the presence of mintmarks: an I for those struck in India, and an SA for those struck in South Africa. A close inspection of the example illustrated here from the Royal Mint Museum collection reveals it to be one of those struck in India.