Silver Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II
Leslie Durbin (1913 - 2005)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1977
Materials
Sterling silver
Measurements
575 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
United Kingdom
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 773329
Summary
Sterling silver, Silver Jubilee medal of Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926), by Leslie Durbin (1913-2005), issued by Spink & Son Ltd., United Kingdom, 1977. A silver medal designed by Leslie Durbin (1913-2005) issued by Messrs. Spink to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. The obverse has a bust portrait of Elizabeth II, with crown, facing left. The reverse has an image of the Silver Jubilee rose and, for the legend, the Queen’s oath sworn at her Coronation on 2 June 1953, ‘The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.’ The medal is no. 354 from an edition of 5,000, and is in a red leatherette box, also containing a printed Certificate of Authenticity.
Full description
The 1977 Silver Jubilee marked the 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) to the throne of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. The anniversary date was celebrated in church services on 6 February 1977, but the Jubilee was largely celebrated in June, to coincide with the Queen’s Official Birthday. On 6 June the Queen lit a bonfire beacon at Windsor Castle, the start of a chain of beacons across the country, and on 7 June a procession to and from St Paul’s Cathedral, for a service of thanksgiving, saw crowds of over a million lining the streets. On 9 June the Queen made a progress by river from Greenwich to Lambeth, reenacting those made by her predecessor Elizabeth I. As well as celebrations in London and other major cities across the Commonwealth, the Queen and Prince Philip made unprecedented tours of Britain, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth. The Jubilee Rose medal was issued by Spink & Son Ltd. in an edition of 5,000, the number of each medal being stamped on the edge. The designer was the renowned silversmith Leslie Durbin, best known as the maker of the Stalingrad sword of honour, presented by Winston Churchill to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the allied conference held in Tehran in November 1943. The image of the rose on the reverse is of the Silver Jubilee rose, a special Hybrid Tea rose bred by James Cocker and Sons Ltd. to commemorate Silver Jubilee year. The inscription is taken from the oath pledged by Queen Elizabeth II at her Coronation in 1953. It meant a great deal to the monarch who, during lunch at the Guildhall following the St. Paul’s service on 7 June 1977, said ‘When I was twenty-one I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God's help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret nor retract one word of it.’ Jeremy Warren 2019
Provenance
Given to the National Trust in 1993 by George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998).
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse, legend: Elizabeth II / Silver Jubilee / 1952-1977 Reverse, legend: The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God. Reverse, edge: 0354 Box, lid: 1977/The Queen’s Silver Jubilee
Makers and roles
Leslie Durbin (1913 - 2005), silversmith Spink and Sons Ltd, issuer
References
Eimer 2010: Christopher Eimer, British Commemorative Medals and their Values, London 2010, p. 276, no. 2136, Pl. 237. Whittlestone and Ewing 2012: Andrew Whittlestone and Michael Ewing, Royal Commemorative Medals 1837-1977. Vol. 8, Queen Elizabeth II. Coronation 1953-Silver Jubilee 1977, Llanfyllin 2012, p. 86, no. 8810.